Electrical services Regulations
and the continual flow of new products that are released onto the market. He says: ‘In these difficult times, the manufacturers are touting their products with wonderful performance proposals and we, as facilities managers who may have a 30-year involvement with a Private Finance Initiative building, need to be able to choose what will be the best for our clients in the long term – we don’t just design and build a building and walk away.’ While acknowledging that energy conservation
is important, Markwell says: ‘We can have so much new technology, such as wind turbines, photovoltaics, combined heat and power, and so on, but how do we know they are actually going to work? ‘The only way to find out is either to conduct field
New wiring regulations are among a plethora of rules affecting the electricals sector.
>
know the construction, design and management (CDM) requirements inside out. ‘That means I could design something that is
perfectly in line with BS7671 [Wiring Regulations] and BS7430 [the earthing standard]. However, I won’t have taken account of maintenance issues under the CDM regulations, working at height regulations, dangerous substances regulations, and so on. ‘Knowing that you are complying with all the
necessary legislation is very difficult and you end up with just the big organisations being competent for doing that because they have the breadth of skills.’ For Markwell, the two biggest issues in the electrical sector are the relentless drive for energy conservation
trials, which take a long time – or put them on the building and find, after a couple of years, that they don’t work or don’t produce what you were expecting.’ He agrees that new research and development is
worthwhile, but calls for a more responsible attitude to identifying and discussing performance by independent test bodies: ‘There are independent tests, but there isn’t really any independent verification that you could rely on. ‘[With the introduction of new energy conservation
and emissions reduction initiatives, such as the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme] you have to invest in energy- saving ideas and procedures and you have to know that what you are investing in is actually going to work.’ l
For more information on CIBSE ESG, or to join, visit:
www.cibse-electricalservicesgroup.co.uk
Ireland Regulatory pressures hit republic, too
It is not just the UK that is suffering a deluge of regulations. Keith Sunderland of Dublin Institute of Technology, who is also a member of CIBSE’s Republic of Ireland committee and of the Electro- Technical Council of Ireland’s TC2 committee, says regulation has an enormous impact in the Republic of Ireland too. ‘We are heading into a new era of regulation.
The legal hierarchy in Ireland is the Commission for Energy Regulation [the independent body responsible for overseeing the liberalisation of Ireland’s energy sector]. ‘There is a brand new system of regulation coming
in that has major implications for how electrical services can be implemented because it is going to be a legal-based approach. That is being backed up by a new set of standards – ET101 2008 [the National Rules for Electrical Installations]. ‘There has always been regulation but, until now, it
has been voluntary. Although primarily aimed at the contracting side, this will have a knock-on effect on the consultancy side because you now have to have relevantly qualified people working in the area. This is a good thing, but it will be a very abrupt change in approach.’
Under the new legislation, electrical contractors
will be subject to a points-based scheme. Sunderland explains: ‘If installations aren’t at a certain level, the contractor will incur penalty points. If he gets too many, he will be taken off the register of contractors and if he is off the register he can’t work.’ Sunderland believes that this could impact on
consultants ‘because it means the pool from which they draw the installation workforce from is much more regulated. ‘It won’t have a direct effect on consultants, but
there are going to be indirect costs incurred [through the cost of assessment and loss of earnings among contractors, which could be passed on]’. Brendan Dervan, managing director of Dublin-
based Dervan Engineering Consultants, says: ‘[In Ireland], there needs to be a greater awareness of three new standards in particular – IS3217: Code of Practice for Emergency Lighting (NSAI), IS3218: Code of Practice for Fire Detection and Alarm Systems (NSAI) and ET 101: National Wiring Rules for Electrical Installations (ETCI).’ Dervan identifies the root of the problem as people moving away from the industry because of the dramatic economic downturn that the republic has experienced.
36
CIBSE Journal June 2010
www.cibsejournal.com
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