Discuss Care Home? Should i recomend RCD sockets? in the Periodic Inspection Reporting & Certification area at ElectriciansForums.net

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JimmyDaWolf

I have done a 100% EICR on a care home this week. There are no rcd's rcbo's anywhere in the installation. The home is for dementia residents. All ring mains are wired in blocks of 4x rooms each. Patients have air beds pluged in on these circuits also which they require to be switched on. should i recomend an RCBO or RCD sockets or leave them as they are?

Any help would be appreciated

Thank you
 
Hum.... a good question.

I'm guessing that the installation predates the 16th ed, so a C3 for the sockets would be my call, UNLESS any could be used for outside equipment.
 
A recommendation that the the socket outlets should be brought up to current standards would be a good idea since this is what the report is about.
The in use by electrically competent persons only would be hard to apply in this case and the level of risk to patients would be reduced.
Since you have just done the EICR you should know whether the installation would be suitable for a simple change of protective device.
However I would also mention in the covering letter about the likelihood of increased tripping and the need for regular testing as it can be hard to have a time to disconnect circuits in a care home.
 
I would definitely recommend the addition of RCD protection on ALL socket outlets in a care facility for dementia. Working on one circuit at a time shouldn't present too much of a problem for the homes staff. I take it that this is a private home for dementia residents, so don't be too surprised if you're recommendation falls on deaf ears.
 
Hmm....

In an ideal world I'd want the beds fed on a non Rcd circuit, spurred from a circuit of at least 20a to allow for future medical equipment.

Assuming the usual budget constraints, C3 recommending Rcbos
 
I think i might go with RCD socket outlets in the residents rooms apart from the air matress sockets. Labelling these as air matress only. Alternatively spur off to a spur. The only problem with this would be the need for one in every room as residency can change quite often. Also no RCD's in the kitchen or laundry room.
 
Has the installation got any pre-existing records for testing? Have you seen them? Although the installation may look like its aligned with 16th edition (example), unless there are any records then I fail to see how one can make the assumption. Furthermore, if you believe in your own mind that RCD protection IS a critical requirement, then advise it. You have to stand by your own work at the end of the day, and if your standards are greater than the requirements of BS7671 regulations...............then what's wrong with that?
 
I think i might go with RCD socket outlets in the residents rooms apart from the air matress sockets. Labelling these as air matress only. Alternatively spur off to a spur. The only problem with this would be the need for one in every room as residency can change quite often. Also no RCD's in the kitchen or laundry room.

Great idea!! .... It'll give them something to play with when they get bored / confused - or both.

"I pressed the bell but nobody came to see me and now the television's gone off". You catching my drift here??

Just give them ordinary sockets but with RCD protection with the RCD located where it can't be fooked about with!
 
And your reasoning behind that little gem??
As the patients have a disease that leaves them prone to confusion or distress, should their beds start deflating in the middle of the night because the nurse has plugged in a dodgy kettle i think you could end up with a difficult situation. 20A was a vague figure for some beds and equipment but without knowing more may be completly unsuitable.

That being said I'd still want the sockets covered as i see the patients as at higher risk

But given the costs and not living in an ideal world, think rcbos would be the best route
 
As the patients have a disease that leaves them prone to confusion or distress, should their beds start deflating in the middle of the night because the nurse has plugged in a dodgy kettle i think you could end up with a difficult situation. 20A was a vague figure for some beds and equipment but without knowing more may be completly unsuitable.

That being said I'd still want the sockets covered as i see the patients as at higher risk

But given the costs and not living in an ideal world, think rcbos would be the best route

If the care home is allowing nurses to bring faulty electrical goods into the care home and use them in resident 'a rooms then they have bigger problems than sockets without RCD protection!

The care home I do maintainance work for doesn't allow any appliances to be used without first passing an appliance test.
 
personally I wouldn't want RCD protection on any sockets in which lifesaving equipment is likely to be plugged in to, certainly not on the entire circuit.

The risks would far outweigh the benefits IMO, assuming full equipotential bonding is in place throughout.

though if it's a dementia home, maybe that's less of an issue.

have they also got those plug socket covers installed?
 
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When i say dementia its actually a home for younger adults with physical and neurological difficulties such as Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Acquired Brain Injury. I could recomend those plug in sockets. There is also a lack of outlets. This causing alot of the rooms to be using 4 way trail leads behind tv's etc. Are there no rcd sockets out there that can be tested via a key?
 
I Bet you felt a right >@}¥ when it turned out the didn't have dementia

only joking mate I would say rcd sockets are a bit ott but If you can sell them and they are just 1% better then fair play you haven't really done anything wrong. If they ain't needed then that's a bit harsh
 
As the patients have a disease that leaves them prone to confusion or distress, should their beds start deflating in the middle of the night because the nurse has plugged in a dodgy kettle i think you could end up with a difficult situation. 20A was a vague figure for some beds and equipment but without knowing more may be completly unsuitable.

That being said I'd still want the sockets covered as i see the patients as at higher risk

But given the costs and not living in an ideal world, think rcbos would be the best route

Why would a nurse plug in a kettle (dodgy or not) into a socket within a patients room in the middle of the night??


If there are insufficient socket outlets within patient rooms that necessitates multi socket adaptors and trailing leads then something is wrong, and needs addressing.... That's what the comments section is for. Maybe the homes insurance company or other authority will pick up on it and insist on remedial work being conducted, ....Maybe!!!!
 

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