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The Electricity at Work Regulations to know by numberWhich regulation is your defence in court?
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Worth a one-line summary of each in your own notes. These are the ones that bear on inspection and testing:
| Reg | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 5 | Strength and capability of electrical equipment — nothing put into use where its strength and capability may be exceeded so as to give rise to danger |
| 12 | Means for cutting off the supply and for isolation |
| 13 | Working on equipment made dead |
| 14 | Working live — three conditions, and you must meet all three |
| 29 | Defence — the only regulation that can be used as a defence in court |
Regulation 5 in practice — what would breach it
An undersized cable An oversized protective device — a 32 A breaker on a 16 A immersion circuit, which will not protect the cable against overload (and may not meet the B32 maximum Zs) Flexible conduit used where the design specified rigid metallic conduit
Regulation 12 is the duty; your lock-off kit is how you meet it. It requires suitable means of cutting off the supply and of isolation. Your approved voltage indicator and its leads are a separate matter: GS38 is HSE guidance on test equipment, not part of Regulation 12.
✋Regulation 14: all three conditions, or you do not work live. If you cannot meet every one of the three, it is not permitted. Some installations genuinely require live work — and then every precaution has to be taken.
Regulation 29 is the one that could save you. It is a defence to prove you took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence. In practice that means things like torque settings: consumer units now come with them, and if a fire follows and you cannot show you tightened to the manufacturer's figure, you may be held liable. The same applies to inspection — if you signed it off and the mechanical protection was missing, you are at fault, not the installer.
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