
Important Note: As always, all information regarding regulations should always be sourced directly from certified regulation text. This article should not be used as a basis or guidance for any work.
We recently spoke about the 18th Edition, and how it brings a higher attention towards surge protection. Another factor that is also being considered are arc faults.
According to Wylex reason’s breakdown of the government’s fire statistics, a total of 9,603 fires were attributed to faulty appliances and leads, in one year, in England alone.
Already common in the US, and growing in popularity across the EU for several years, arc fault detection devices (AFDDs) have finally made their first steps into UK regulation.
There’s some hubbub surrounding this new consideration, largely due to the extra cost of these devices (as much as £120 per unit, sourced from Crabtree).
It’s sensible to expect the cost of these devices to fall over the coming years, as manufacturers settle into more efficient mass production and recoup the research and development costs. That said, in the European countries that already began to adopt these a few years ago, the price point hasn’t shifted much. So only time will tell.
AFDDs aren’t yet required to a strict degree. According to a new regulation (710.421.1.201), AFDDs are now required in Group 0 Medical locations following a risk assessment. It also explicitly states that Group 1 and 2 medical locations are not required to have AFDDs.
So generally speaking, AFDDs still aren’t required anywhere except in one scenario, backed by a proper risk assessment. We’re still very much in ‘can be used’ territory, and the 18th Edition.
And this risk assessment is still as of yet ill-defined. Circling back to our look at SPDs as an example, it’s likely that this will be more closely addressed in future editions, when more information is available, and a wider familiarity with the device is in place. RCDs experienced a similar journey, starting with the 15th Edition.