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Inspection: what Guidance Note 3 addsWhich labels does a home no longer need?
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Guidance Note 3 has its own inspection checklist (2.5.3), grouped by general items, switchgear, accessories and lighting controls. It’s worth reading once in full. These points come up again and again:
- You can’t open every connection. Inspect a representative sample, especially the larger connections on switchgear and busbars. Where a torque setting is given, use it.
- Terminals are marked for the conductors they take. No marking: any class of conductor. r: rigid only (class 1 and 2). sol: solid only (class 1). f: flexible only (class 5 and 6). Fine flexible strands in a screw terminal should ideally have a crimp ferrule.
- Main switch on single phase for ordinary people, such as homes, shops and offices: double-pole.
- Distribution boards can have a rated diversity factor (RDF). At 0.8, any mix of outgoing circuits can be loaded to 80% of their rating, as long as the total doesn’t exceed the board’s rating. That’s why heavily loaded circuits get spread between lightly loaded ones.
- A label for the first periodic inspection should be there. It’s on the checklist.
- Sheathed cables into accessories: no cores with the sheath removed showing outside the enclosure. Bare protective conductors of 6 mm² or less get sleeved green-and-yellow.
Labels you no longer need in a home
| Notice | In a home |
|---|---|
| SPD notice at the board | Not required, if the information is recorded on the certificate with its Guidance for Recipients |
| Circuit chart fixed at the board | Not required to be fixed there, on the same condition. A copy of the schedule of circuit details near the board does the job |
| “Mixed wiring colours” notice | The regulation has been deleted. Nothing stops you fitting one, especially on additions and alterations |
Guidance Note 3 · 2.5.2 · connections, terminal markings Guidance Note 3 · notices Guidance Note 3 · 2.5.3 · the checklist
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Sparky Study Notes is the whole Level 3 syllabus written up like this: the explanation, the worked example, and where it is in your book. With a video lesson for every part and a practice paper for every exam.
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- 18th Edition
- Building Regs
- PAT
- Fundamental Inspection & Testing
- Initial Verification
- Periodic Inspection & Testing