British Standard 7671
Requirements for Electrical Installations: 18th Edition
All fire engineering project design and fire risk assessment surveys should include reference to the latest British Standard 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations 18th edition (IET Wiring regulations) from the 01 January 2019. Please be aware that these standards are not retrospect, apart from the references to emergency lighting.
At present, and for the past three years, we have been referring to BS7671 Seventeenth edition, Amendment 3 ‘Requirement for Electrical Installations’ as the current electrical standard in fire safety documentation.
As from the 01 January 2019 the latest standard will take effect – BS7671 Eighteenth edition.
The IET recommends to its members (and the electrical industry) that during the six month period from 01 July 2018 to 01 January 2019, either edition maybe used.
CE quotes BS7671 during the production of its Project Instructions, Requests for Change and throughout the design and installation of all projects.
The following should be used as guidance on which standard to quote and use:
Project Instructions and Requests for Change
Use BS7671 Eighteenth edition in all Project Instructions and Requests for Change from now unless the project can be designed and installed and paid before the end of December 2018 / January 2019, in which case using BS7671 Seventeenth edition is acceptable.
Projects starting or in the 35% or 65% Design Stage
Typical projects can take up to 12 months to work their way through the design process.
Use BS7671 Eighteenth edition on all projects that are starting the design process and projects at 35% or 65% design stages unless the project can be designed, installed and and paid for by the end of December 2018 / January 2019, in which case using BS7671 Seventeenth edition is acceptable.
Projects in the 95% or 100% Design Stage
Projects at the 95% or 100% design stages, and where the installation is expected to be completed and paid for by December 2018 / January 2019 can remain as BS7671 Seventeenth edition.
Projects at the 95% and 100% design stages, and with an installation period greater than January 2019 should use BS7671 Eighteenth edition.
Projects in the Installation Stage
Projects in the installation stage, that are expected to finish before February / March 2019, can remain as BS7671 Seventeenth edition.
Projects in the installation stage that are expected to finish between March and June 2019 can remain at BS7671 Seventeenth edition, unless the majority of the electrical work is expected to be completed in this period. If your project may fall into this category please ask.
Projects in the installation stage that are expected to finish after June 2019 should use BS7671 Eighteenth edition.
If you receive any requests for comments during any of the design stages, a standard comment back to the designer should be ‘confirm the design is to BS7671 Eighteenth edition’.
It should not be necessary to recall or rewrite any recently issued Project Instructions or Requests for Change, however, as the first / initial design for the project prepared by the designer is issued to CE then the comment ‘confirm the design is to BS7671 Eighteenth edition’ should be made.