45628

GE Consumer & Industrial

Power Protection

GE Consumer & Industrial

Power Protection

Consumer unit Requirements

17th Edition Wiring Regulations BS 7671 : 2008
In July 2008, for Residential and Domestic installations the 17th Edition wiring regulations came into effect.

Its is important to understand that the 17th Edition differentiates between installations depending on the user. The regulations
discuss installations not under the supervision of a skilled or instructed persons and socket outlets for general use by ordinary
persons With this the installation requires Additional Circuit Protection by the use of 30mA RCDs tted to many circuits which
have not previously needed protection from an RCD.
The most signicant change is the introduction requiring additional protection by RCDs.
The 3 main points for consideration are:
1. Socket outlets
2. Cables buried in walls
3. Locations containing a bath or a shower
All sockets with a rated current not exceeding 20A should be protected by a 30mA RCD whether on the ground oor of a
domestic dwelling or the top oor of a high rise apartment block.
All sockets in a room with a bath or shower shall be protected by one or more RCDs.
All cables concealed beneath the plaster surface of a wall or partition (at less than 50mm without earthed mechanical protection
such as conduit) should be protected by a 30mA RCD.

17th e
di
compa tion
tible

Installations should be divided up into circuits so as to take account of danger and inconvenience caused by a single circuit
fault, such as a lighting circuit and to take account of danger that may arise from the failure such and to reduce the possibility
of unwanted tripping of RCDs.
Most domestic installations are made up of a few lighting circuits, a few socket circuits and the same with the bathroom circuits.
With the new legislation these can no longer be grouped together using only MCBs as protection devices. It is important to
understand and to ensure that if a single fault occurs it should not cause inconvenience to any other circuit. For instance if there
was to be a fault with an electric shower, the tripping of the protection device should not plunge the rest of the bathroom into
darkness.
With the many different types of property to consider and the many different types of equipment such as smoke alarms. Each
dwelling will require its own design considerations.
GE can help you with your selection providing help on site if required and can offer a wide variety of NEW consumer units and
devices to help both the designer and the installer to meet the new regulations.

GE POWER CONTROLS Ltd

129-135 Camp Road
St Albans
Herts AL1 5HL
United Kingdom
Customer Service
Tel. 0800 587 1251
Fax 0800 587 1239
E-mail: gepcuk@gepc.ge.com

Consumer Units
Just feel protected

www.ge.com/eu/powerprotection

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R/2313/E/E 5.0 Ed 06/08
Copyright GE Consumer & Industrial 2008

Consumer unit

Consumer unit

Option 1: Insulated main switch up to 100A Consumer Unit MS11

17th e
di
compa tion
tible

Cooker

Shower

Down stairs
sockets

Up stairs
sockets

Kitchen
sockets

Immersion
heater

Upstairs
lighting

Down stairs
lighting

Burglar
alarms

Smoke
alarms

Selecting RCBOs for every outgoing circuit meets all regulations ensuring a dedicated 30mA protected supply to every circuit

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

RCBO

Insulated main switch up

p to 100A

Spare
Main
Isolator

40A
30mA

40A
30mA

32A
30mA

32A
30mA

32A
30mA

16A
30mA

6A
30mA

6A
30mA

6A
30mA

6A
30mA

No. of
ways

Rating
(A)

HxWxD
code*

Cat. No.

Ref. No.

Pack.

1(1)
2(1)
4
6
8
11
16

63A
63A
100A
100A
100A
100A
100A

A
A
B
B
B
C
D

MS1
MS2
MS4
MS6
MS8
MS11
MS16

662100
662101
662102
662103
662104
662105
662106

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Option 2: Insulated split load, 100A main switch & 80A 30mA RCCB Consumer Unit SL66

Down stairs
Sockets

RCBO

Down stairs
Sockets

RCBO

Immersion heater

Down stairs
lightning

RCBO

Down stairs
Sockets

Up stairs
sockets

RCBO

Insulated split
p load 100A main switch & 80A 30mA RCCB

Shower

Kitchen
sockets

RCBO

Up stairs
sockets

Cooker

This arrangement provides an RCD with a small group of circuits and other critical circuits with independent 30mA protection (RCBO)

MCB

MCB

MCB

MCB

MCB

40A

32A

16A

6A

6A

Pre-congured
g
6
10
10
12
14
Flexible busbar
10
14

RCD

Spare
Main
Isolator

40A
30mA

32A
30mA

32A
30mA

6A
30mA

6A
30mA

Split
p

No. of
ways

30mA

Spare

HxWxD
code*

Cat. No.

Ref. No.

Pack.

Iso

RCCB

3
5
6
6
7

3
5
4
6
7

B
C
C
D
D

SL33
SL55
SL64
SL66
SL77

662119
662120
662121
662122
662123

1
1
1
1
1

3/7
5/9

7/3
9/5

D
D

FSL10
FSL14

662125
662126

1
1

Option 3: Dual 80A 30mA RCCB insulated split load, 100A main switch Consumer Unit with dedicated RCD
protected circuits TSL345

MCB

40A

32A

32A

Hall and stair

way lighting

MCB

Up stairs
lights

MCB

Down stairs
sockets

Down stairs
lights

RCBO

Cooker

Up stairs
sockets

Insulated split
p load 100A main switch & Dual 80A 30mA RCCB
Shower

RCBO

Burgler
alarm

Smoke
detector

This arrangement provides two RCD protected circuits and other critical circuits with independent 30mA protection (RCBO)

RCD

MCB

MCB

MCB

MCB

30mA

40A

32A

6A

6A

RCD

Spare
Main
Isolator

6A
30mA

6A
30mA

Spare

Split
p

No. of
ways

Spare

30mA

Pre-congured
6
10
10
12
12
Flexible busbar
12

Iso

RCCB

RCCB

2
3
4
2
4

2
4
4
5
5

2
5
2
5
5

3/4/5

5/4/3

HxWxD
code*

Cat. No.

Ref. No.

Pack.

C
D
D
D
D

TSL222
TSL345
TSL442
TSL255
TSL444

662152
662153
662154
662155
662156

1
1
1
1
1

FTSL12

662161

Option 4: Dual 80A 30mA RCCB insulated split load, 100A main switch Consumer Unit with dedicated RCD
protected circuits DSL55

Main
Isolator

RCD

MCB

MCB

MCB

MCB

30 mA

40A

32A

32A

6A

Spare

Insulated split
p load 100A main switch & 80A 30mA RCCB

Hall and stair

way lighting

Up stairs
lights

Down stairs
sockets

Cooker

Down stairs
lights

Up stairs
sockets

Kitchen
sockets

Shower

This arrangement provides two RCD protected circuits

MCB

MCB

MCB

MCB

40A

32A

6A

6A

RCD

Spare

30 mA

Complete range of Consumer Units: see catalogue

Split
p

No. of
ways
Pre-congured
g
10
10
10
12
Flexible busbar
12

HxWxD
code*

Cat. No.

Ref. No.

Pack.

RCCB

RCCB

4
6
5
6

4
4
5
6

C
D
D
D

DSL44
DSL64
DSL55
DSL66

662157
662158
662159
662160

1
1
1
1

5/7

7/5

DFSL12

662163

*Complete range of Consumer Units: see catalogue.