Fuseboard in locked room

[Murdoch]

I went to look at an issue at a rented home today and the fuseboard is in one of the tenants bedrooms - which is locked when they are out.

So this made me wonder how this would be viewed by the collective?

Is the inaccessibility and issue to allow isolation? resetting tripped MCB's or RCD's?

I can't recall seeing this before on a property I've inspected, nor seeing any guidance on it either

Thoughts all

Thanks

tin hat on

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I can think of numerous situations where combinations of electrical distribution board / switchgear would have a valid reason to be in a locked enclosure/room, only accessible to some authorised / competent person...

So there are probably no electrical safety issues providing all the design / installation / testing parameters are compliant with BS7671..

But I am not convinced that a tenant should be prevented from accessing the CU to reset power following a fault..
especially an RCD, which could easily trip due to an accidental spillage of water, or a faulty appliance!

This is probably more of landlord -vs- tenants rights, rather than an electrical problem..?

 

[Mike.J]

I read that totally different, the CU is in the Tenants bedroom which they lock when they go out, it's the landlord that can't get to it when the bedroom is locked? Landlord should have a key to the room.

 

[Murdoch]

Interesting views

The cu is in a tenants bedroom, the room is locked when the tenant is at work or away.

If a rcd or fuse trip the other tenants don’t have access to reset

And in the event of a fault, the other tenants don’t have access to isolate

Hope this is clearer

 

[Sharpend]

Technically there is nowt wrong, however the issue is it is perhaps not best practice in the environment it is used. Most lockable cupboards that are in another room other than a designated switch room will be accessible to the maintenance team, but being in a domestic environment whereby a maintenance team isn’t available then I’d suggest that it isn’t feasible to have this arrangement for the scenarios you describe.
I wonder if there are any guidelines for the electrical distribution in relation to HMO’s?

 

[Murdoch]

I wonder if there are any guidelines for the electrical distribution in relation to HMO’s?

The whole reason I posted is because I hoped somebody would know

 

[NozSpark]

I had one similar to this a year or so ago... I couldn't find a specific reg against it but ended up giving it a C3 (IIRC)

 

[Murdoch]

I had one similar to this a year or so ago... I couldn't find a specific reg against it but ended up giving it a C3 (IIRC)

Tin Hat on

I gave somebody a C2 for the fuseboard being in the adjacent building and most of the time said building was empty and the landlord had absolutely no intention of allowing the tenants to have a key.

It was one of many C2's and they didn't ask me to do the remedials so I have no idea what , if anything was updated.

Common sense says that a CU should be within the premises it covers .................... but what do I know?

 

[Luckyboy]

I'd say it was a C3 however, a common situation is having the communal DB locked in a cupboard, only accessible with an FB2 key or similar, is that also "codeable"?
If the landlord has a master key to access I would be tempted to not even code...

 

[Mike.J]

I'd say it was a C3 however, a common situation is having the communal DB locked in a cupboard, only accessible with an FB2 key or similar, is that also "codeable"?
If the landlord has a master key to access I would be tempted to not even code...

But only if the Landlord lives on the premises, personally I think it is unacceptable.

 

[Dranok]

Accessible only to authorized personnel is fine, assuming they are always available when the bldg is in use, but inaccessible for emergency or safety switching reasons is immediately C2, no quibbles, if's buts or maybes. I am signing the report, nobody can tell me to downgrade that. In a residential setting with no "trained" people or reliable fire protection or additional protective devices or reinforced installations or construction, I always say to bldg users "what do you do if this device starts smoking? How do you turn it off in an emergency?" Until its fault causes enough fault current or short-circuit current to cause the circuit device to operate or the cutout fuse to blow, it is creating the seat of a fire, and a "domestic" fire (residential in this instance) is usually much quicker to start than a in an industrial/commercial setting: IIRC 27 seconds on average before the fire brigade are the only people who can manage it.

The description sounds like someone trying to rob money off as many people as possible in their rented home, converting an inappropriate room (probably originally the dining room) into another "rentable" space. Is it directly off the kitchen I wonder... Although he wouldn't get an HMO license if it were.