DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

We recently had an electrical inspection at our village hall and the electrician found no problems. He recommended that our 20 year old distribution board should be renewed fairly soon to comply with modern standards.

Was this good advice please?

Simple answer is yes. The old boards will not take RCD protection you would likely pay more to include RCD protection outside the board than swapping the board for one with RCD protection built in.

You are not required to change the board, but you have to consider what would be the result if anyone was injured due to that protection not being included.

It does depend on what the hall is used for, a church normally has no problems as that is all it is used for, a chapel however may be hired out for children's parties. Where I live the community centre is rarely use by children, and is that small the rules on cables being retained in the case of fire hardly applies.

It is so easy to fall foul of regulations, simple thing like plugging some thing into a socket that does not comply with BS1363. The number of so called socket protectors I have put in the bin is unbelievable, the guy who marketed those things was some guy, to be able to sell something which makes a socket more dangerous claiming they make it safer takes some doing, but he did it.

So it may be the use the hall is put to does not warrant the expense, if you are uncertain then it is really down to your insurance. Ask them if there is a reduction if you fit RCD protection? I will guess not, as although I fitted it to my house, the number of deaths which would not have happened if it was fitted is quite low.

Our hall has many uses including childrens' parties so I think we will upgrade.
Thankyou for your advice Sir.