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Inspecting the board, and coding as you goMissing blank, finger in the board. What code?
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The question at the end: Missing blank, finger in the board. What code? The answer is in the notes below.
The notes
Exactly as they are on the site.
The schedule of inspections, item by item. Every item carries a regulation number: if you’re not sure whether what’s in front of you is right, read the regulation, then look again. Everything you code goes into the observations as well.
The very first thing found, lifting the flap: a missing blank. A finger goes in, millimetres from a live part.
| Found | Code | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Missing blank — front surface not IP2X / IPXXB | C1 | Direct access to a live part. Tell the person who ordered the report straight away, in writing |
| “Safety electrical connection” label missing at the MET | C3 | Required, but its absence makes nothing unsafe |
| Lighting circuit in 1.0 mm², run through loft insulation, on a 16 A device | C2 | Buried in insulation, the cable’s rating drops well below 16 A: In must not exceed Iz |
| Inspection lid off trunking, non-sheathed cables reachable | C2 | Only basic insulation between a finger and a live conductor |
- The intake is visual only. Service head, cut-out, meter, tails: look for damage, overheating, tampering, and tails whose grey sheath stops short where it can be touched. You don’t take any of it apart. A defect on the supplier’s equipment isn’t yours to fix — record it, and make sure the person who ordered the report knows, so the supplier can be told.
- Line and neutral of each circuit through the same entry into a metal board — the tails especially. Together, their magnetic fields cancel. Through separate holes, they heat the steel around them.
- Mixed makes of device in a board, where the manufacturer doesn’t allow it, is worth a hard look.
- Record what you see. The 16 A goes on the schedule as 16 A. You know it’s wrong; that’s why it’s coded.
BS 7671 · Reg 433.1.1 · Ib ≤ In ≤ Iz · p.103 Best Practice Guide 4 · coding examples
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- 18th Edition
- Building Regs
- PAT
- Fundamental Inspection & Testing
- Initial Verification
- Periodic Inspection & Testing