consumer unit no RCD

alphason

I have a rental property, a small house 1 bed built 1996. I know I need to get a landlords safety certificate before next April 2021 or sooner if the tenant changes over. Have seen the certificates as low as £85 but mostly £100-130. 

What I am concerned about is the consumer unit, its the original from when the house was built in 1996, I am fairly sure it does not have circuit breakers, (MCB/ RCD??), (I am not in UK so can't check myself). I have read the regulations and can't work out if it will fail for this (C1/C2), or is it something that is just advised (C3) and I don't need to do? There are not many circuits, but even so replacing this sounds like an expensive thing to do, or can the fuses be changed in the existing unit.

Thanks

fenwick458

you seem to be jumping the gun. just get the EICR done, then they will tell you what needs done.

grumbler

alphason said:

...the house was built in 1996, I am fairly sure it does not have circuit breakers, (MCB/ RCD??)

hard to believe

alphason

fenwick458 said:

you seem to be jumping the gun. just get the EICR done, then they will tell you what needs done.

I didn't want to do the EICR early and be given a report that say it needs urgently upgrading, just tryng to get some advance info.

grumbler said:

alphason said:

...the house was built in 1996, I am fairly sure it does not have circuit breakers, (MCB/ RCD??)

hard to believe

Fairly sure its just cartridge fuses but I am going to get the tenant to take a photo to be sure.

Risteard

Just get the inspection done and report issued as advised. Expect to pay around £200 for a credible report. £85 will buy you toilet paper. 

FreeBear

grumbler said:

alphason said:

...the house was built in 1996, I am fairly sure it does not have circuit breakers, (MCB/ RCD??)

hard to believe

Friend purchased a new build around the same time. The consumer unit uses cartridge fuses (darned expensive ones).

Depending on the make/model of the consumer unit, it may be possible to replace the fuse holders with MCBs.. But the cost of doing so, it may work out cheaper in the long run to replace the consumer unit completely - See what the recommendation & costing is when you have the report done.

Ectophile

There's nothing actually wrong with fuses.  They are not as convenient as circuit breakers, but they will still blow if there's a fault.

You may have more problem with the lack of an RCD.  The 16th Edition of the Wiring Regulations came out in 1992, and that required an RCD at least on some circuits.  So if it has no RCD's then it probably never complied.

alphason

Ectophile said:

There's nothing actually wrong with fuses.  They are not as convenient as circuit breakers, but they will still blow if there's a fault.

You may have more problem with the lack of an RCD.  The 16th Edition of the Wiring Regulations came out in 1992, and that required an RCD at least on some circuits.  So if it has no RCD's then it probably never complied.

It should have an RCD then as it was required after 1992. I don't have a good photo of it but can see its supasafe brand.
Is it a requirement to have MCB breakers instead of the fuses?

Heedtheadvice

In general no for early installation. It just needed to meet the regs extant at the time.

However it is far better to have a modern safer unit, it might significantly reduce the risk of electrical shock and as a landlord you have a duty of care to your tenants. If all goes well, for a simple set of circuits you might just have a £400 cost to bring it up to date. (That depends upon location, charge rate and complexity etc. but do not estimate for less). The most significant risk to more work being required and the corresponding cost increase is if there are circuit/load problems that cause incompatibility with RCD requirements (amongst other things!).

As other posters have writ, get the report done first. That will tell you what actually needs to be done and what is advisable. It makes sense to know exactly where you stand and then you have time to plan and allocate funds. It makes sense too to carry out the advisory work at the same time both on cost grounds and peace of mind?

fenwick458

alphason said:

It should have an RCD then as it was required after 1992. I don't have a good photo of it but can see its supasafe brand.
Is it a requirement to have MCB breakers instead of the fuses?

yes it should have had an RCD from the start. from 1992 onwards any circuit likely to supply power outdoors (ie any socket on the ground floor) should have had an RCD. 
i'm a bit confused about the fuses/MCB thing you are on about. both of them do the same job, but an MCB can be reset, whereas a fuse will require replaced (or rewired sometimes). thats the only difference between them.
but if you say it's 90's, and has Supasafe branding, i'm 99% sure you already have MCB's...

stragglebod

alphason said:

fenwick458 said:

you seem to be jumping the gun. just get the EICR done, then they will tell you what needs done.

I didn't want to do the EICR early and be given a report that say it needs urgently upgrading, just tryng to get some advance info.

grumbler said:

alphason said:

...the house was built in 1996, I am fairly sure it does not have circuit breakers, (MCB/ RCD??)

hard to believe

Fairly sure its just cartridge fuses but I am going to get the tenant to take a photo to be sure.

Then just book them to fit a new consumer unit and do an EICR at the same time, and hope that the EICR doesn't flag up anything else that can't be fixed easily straight away.