New Electricity Code of Practice

BECTU members working with electricity are alerted to the soon-to-be published British Standards Institute draft new code of practice.

The revision of the current BS 7909 1998 is soon to be available as a Draft for Public Comment (DPC). It represents a major revision to the existing code.

The draft new code, DPC BS 7909 2008, has a simpler title:
Code of Practice for Temporary Electrical Distributions for Entertainment and Related Purposes.

Examples of areas where changes have been made include:

• An increase in the range of events that use temporary electrical distributions;
• Recognition of the considerable quantity and range of electrical equipment and related staff that are hired in for an event
• The management of temporary electrical distributions
• Temporary electrical distributions have been split into 'small/simple' or 'large/complex', and are treated separately
• The requirements and terminology of BS 7671 2008 (IEE Wiring Regulations 17th Edition) have been adopted where appropriate
• Current annexes have been revised and new annexes have been added.

The availability of DPC BS 7909 2008 will be announced in BSi publication Update Standards dated April 2008, under 'Draft Standards for Public Comment'. Update Standards is available as hard copy only, but can be obtained from BSi Customer Services by telephoning 020 8996 9001.

It is expected that towards the end of March 2008 the DPC BS 7909 2008 will be shown as available for comment on the BSi website.

This page gives information about available DPCs and how to obtain them. It also provides the necessary comment forms.

The web page has a blue menu bar along the top with a search box at the right. The document identifier 07/30166535DC should be used to search for DPC BS 7909 2008. The search will be successful as soon as the DPC is available, the screen will state BS 7909 and link to an option to buy. The DPC will cost £10 for BSi members and £20 for non members.

The period for comment will be two months so if members wish to use the time available for comment they are advised to check the website as indicated from 24 March. Members can also choose to relay their comments to Anna Murray [email protected], BECTU National Official with responsibility for health and safety in broadcasting.

With thanks for this information to Dave Roberts, chair of the relevant BSi technical committee and to Gordon Bannister, BECTU representative.