Question

Answer

When did the 17^th Edition Wiring Regulations come into force?

They were released in January 2008 and came into force on the 31^st July 2008

What happened to the 16^th Edition Wiring Regulations?

They have now been superseded

Does my domestic electrical contractor have to be qualified in the 17^thEdition Wiring Regulations?

All electrical work carried out in your property by an electrical contractor must be done by a competent contractor qualified to BS 7671 - 2008 17^th Edition Wiring Regulations

My neighbour who did his own work, recons he can do it better and cheaper is that allowed?

No. All electrical work contracted out must be done by a qualified competent contractor

What would happen if I used a non qualified contractor?

Beside the safety issue of letting a person mess with your electrics, a lot of insurance company's could invalidate your insurance policy if you had the misfortune to make a claim after an electrical fault caused a major problem 

How do I know if the contractor is qualified?

He must be affiliated with a professional body like NAPIT  and some others as well, (it is just like the CORGI scheme with gas installations) the contractor should be able to be found on their web site or they will confirm that the contractor is registered with them

My contractor tells me the sockets in my house must be protected by a R.C.D. is this correct?

Yes. There are some exceptions, but for the majority of installations all circuits are required to have the additional protection of a 30mAmp R.C.D.

Is one R.C.D. ample to protect my whole house?

The requirement is not to have all circuits protected by a single R.C.D. as the hazards that can be caused when the R.C.D. trips could put the occupants at risk, a new 17^th edition system will have a minimum of 2 R.C.D's within the consumer unit thus allowing at least 50% of the electrical circuits to remain on if one of the circuits causes one R.C.D's to trip, this can sometimes be impracticable on a small installation with only 1 lighting circuit and 1 ring (socket) circuit or were limited space for the consumer unit

How would the electrical circuits be divided on a 17^th edition installation?

The most common approach would be to divide the property into two but allocating the opposites to each R.C.D. example would be to put upstairs lights and downstairs sockets on R.C.D.1 and downstairs lights with upstairs sockets onto R.C.D.2 then hopefully your reducing the risk of loosing lighting throughout the house

I have heard that with the 17^th edition I do not need supplementary bonding in my bathroom or shower room now, is this correct?

The 17^th edition requires that two of the following need to be in place to comply with the 17^th edition.

A. R.C.D. protection of all circuits within the bathroom or shower room.

B. Main Equipotential Bonding of incoming services in place.

C. Supplementary bonding of metallic surfaces within the bathroom or shower room.

As a precaution I would advise, if the situation arose and the opportunity to install supplementary bonding was available, install it.

Should I receive any paperwork on completion of any electrical work at my property?

Yes. All electrical work must be tested and the relevant certification supplied, and these should be kept with important documents as proof that the work was carried out correctly and by a qualified contractor

Do I have to inform the local building authorities of electrical work carried out by a contractor at my property? 

No. it is the responsibility of the contractor to inform the local building authorities of the type of work and nature of the property

Will my electrical installation that was done correctly to the requirements of the 16^th edition wiring regulations, have to be redone now to comply to the 17^th edition wiring regulations.

That a good question, the property will not now comply to the latest regulations and it is advisable to always be compliant to the latest, the installation will not be anymore unsafe that it was when completed under the 16^th edition, but should be brought up to current requirements. Talk to your electrical contractor about this as there can often be a simple solution and small alteration to allow the installation to become compliant.