New Wiring Norms For UK Electricians: Your Man Needs to Know This

It was a Friday night and we were supposed to go out for a fancy dinner at the Chisou restaurant in Mayfair to try their sushi — as they’re said to have the freshest fish in whole London. It was already late and my husband has his mobile turned off. I started to worry; 30 minutes later, with our reservation already missed, I’m getting a call and I hear “Hi hun, we’ll have to reschedule our dinner as I’ll be a tiny bit late, I managed to burn myself at work.”

I went nuts as my husband was taken to the hospital for first aid. A few hours later I was caring for him at home and instead of enjoying our sushi menu, we started talking about security measures for electricians and why he wasn’t paying much attention. It was then that both me and my husband realized how important it is to follow rules. It’s actually the whole reason of this post. If any of you ladies have electrician husbands, they should know that there are new rules in the UK.

Though the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has already brought to the table their IET Wiring Regulations, a majority of electricians in the UK are yet to comply with the new norms.

Going by what the IET believes, as many as 76% of electricians in the UK still don’t have a copy of the new regulations. Though not considered a statutory requirement, adhering to the new norms is seen as making it possible for the electricians to achieve compliance with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Further, IET suggests it would also help them meet the requirements of the Building Regulations of England and Wales, of Scotland and of Northern Ireland.

IET has brought to the fore a few changes to IET Wiring Regulations. Fresh forms have been introduced for inspection reporting, new sections added in connection with electromagnetic disturbances and devices have been introduced to protect against over voltage. These apart, the new changes brought in include medical locations and maintenance gangways.

Electricians, including Birmingham electricians and Manchester electricians, would benefit if they familiarize themselves with the amended IET Wiring Regulations in such a way that they would be up to date with the current standards. IET has said that the electricians will be able to carry out their work in a competent and capable manner once they also adapt themselves to the new norms.

Though it gives the IET reasons to cheer as a total of 66,000 copies of the new IET Wiring Regulations have been sold since July 2011, the fact remains that there could still be around 211,000 electricians who haven’t got theirs. IET is
looking to a scenario where all electricians would comply with te regulations soon.

Do you have a husband who’s an electrician? I am quite sure he should know about this. Keep your men safe, ladies!