Do I have to fit RCD's in my 1930's house ?

[jon evans]

I recently bought a new gas cooker which has turned out to have 2 faults within the first 3 days. An engineer from the supplier was summoned to fix it but would not deal with it as my Distribution Board does not have any RCD's. There was no requirement of this when buying the cooker and now they will not collect it or give us a refund. Am I stuck between a rock and a hard place, or should I get the house rewired just so they can repair the fault ?
Please can somebody help !

 

[loz2754]

The state of the electrics in your house is not relevant to you being sold a faulty cooker, and you should contact the retailer you bought it from and demand that it be replaced or refunded, as the fault developed within 30 days. If you told them about the fault after 30 days but before 6 months, the retailer is entitled to attempt 1 repair only, after which they must replace or refund.

Having said that, RCDs are a good thing to have, and are mandatory in certain situations. They offer an additional level of protection against fire and electric shock.

 

[James]

did they supply and install it?

 

[snowhead]

Was this a major high street supplier or major online supplier?
Or was it just a local supplier?

The above doesn't make any difference, just curious, as whoever supplied it should replace it as per Loz above.

Ask whoever supplied it to provide written confirmation from the manufacturer that the cooker can only be fitted to an electrical supply protected by an RCD.
And for them also to identify the electrical regulation that requires all existing installations to be updated to the current 18th edition regs.

If the cooker is plugged in with a 13amp plug just for the ignitor then they only need to switch the socket off to make it safe for them to unplug it and exchange the cooker.

If the cooker is hard wired then all they need to do is turn off the whole installation at the consumer unit / fuse board.

They must have considered the installation to be safe when they delivered and fitted the cooker.

My assessment of the situation is either the person delivering the cooker is poorly trained / hasn't understood what they've been told / trained to do and shouldn't be connecting up any electrical or gas appliance,
Or their employer has been wrongly informed by someone.

 

[pc1966]

As above, the lack of RCD has no impact on the failure of the appliance.

It might be some guidance for their staff not to work on systems without RCD protection, but really they should not be working live unless able to do so safely and there is no reasonable alternative. My parents do not have RCD protection either, and British Gas replaced the FCU with a RCD FCU to supply the boiler that they have on a service contract. Simplez!

 

[telectrix]

British Gas replaced the FCU with a RCD FCU''
did they offer 4 years credit for that?

 

[pc1966]

British Gas replaced the FCU with a RCD FCU''
did they offer 4 years credit for that?

I was surprised they actually did anything that was not forced by a complaint!

 

[UNG]

So does the user manual / instructions for this cooker state that it must be connected to a circuit protected by an RCD, and if they do is there a potential issue with electrics on this appliance

 

[Vortigern]

There is no getting around the bone-headed script reading automatons they send out. A cheap and simple way around this is to get an RCD up front before your consumer unit. This will comply with their and BS7671 requirements. It may however nuisance trip and trip anyway as there could be faults on your circuit(s) which could be a bit of a nightmare. The other problem is that one RCD covering the whole installation means that one fault and all the circuits are down, no electricity in the house. Get an electrician in and get some advice on where to go with this.

 

[James]

Or an rcd socket to supply the hob might be an option

 

[brianmoooore]

There is no requirement to fit RCDs in your 1930's house, but it would be the most cost effective upgrade to your safety and security that you could ever do.
I've not installed a domestic circuit not protected by a RCD for around 40 years.