2.7 Electrical Installation

The Electrical Installation Work Certificate of Compliance can be found in the Instruction Manuals & Documents envelope you will have been given on the day you moved in.

The electrical installation is controlled by the consumer unit that is in the cupboard. This is made up of individual breakers (one for lighting, one for sockets etc) and can be used to isolate areas for maintenance and/or repair of faulty equipment. Only a qualified electrician should carry out works on the electrical equipment and installation.

The fuses are miniature circuit breakers and are labelled to show which circuits they serve. There is no fuse wire. There is a main switch in the consumer unit that cuts off the electricity supply to your home. If a fuse blows, the switch on the circuit breaker corresponding to the fused circuit will move to the down position. This is normally due to faulty appliances – e.g. a faulty iron or toaster.

If a circuit does go down or fails, check the appliance first to make sure the wires are connected to the plug. Take care to ensure that any electrical appliance you use is suitable for connection to a 230 V 50 Hz supply and that there is an appropriate fuse in the plug. The recommended fuse sizes for the majority of the appliances you will use are set out in the table below:

Check and reset the trip switches after power failure before assuming that a defect exists. If you have doubts about an appliance, you should get advice from a qualified person. Once the faulty appliance has been repaired and reconnected, the switch on the consumer unit should be set to the up position. This reconnects the power to the circuit.

Electricity is dangerous and can kill. It is essential to have any work done by a qualified electrician.

• Do not attempt to do any work on an electric circuit
• Always unplug an appliance before working on it
• Always ensure that appliances are fitted with the correct fuses as recommended by the manufacturer
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for wiring appliances
• Never use an electric hairdryer or any other portable electric appliances in the bathroom, apart from a shaver or electric toothbrush charger attached to the socket located next to the sink
• Keep a torch handy by the consumer unit for emergencies
• Do not attempt to repair, alter or extend electrical installations