coming up on this week's news the first guidance on how to connect RCDs and MCBs to the latest  Amendment of the Wiring Regs is unveiled a man whose arms exploded during 11,000 volt shock meets  the doctors and ambulance crew who saved him and the householder whose battery storage app lets him  take control of the power in 60,000 homes across the UK welcome back after the summer break to  electrical news weekly in association with solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things  solar whether you're listening in the van or down at the wholesale counter I'm Joe Robinson and I've  been through the best of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble we hope you've had  a great summer and are ready for the Long Haul to the end of the year we'll be with you every step  of the way and if you think you've spotted the two words that I've been challenged to slip into  this week's show comment with them below for the chance to win a prize the first guidance on how  to install RCDs and MCBs to the latest Amendment of the wiring regs has just been unveiled Beama  released the advice to the electrical trade this week outlining the new rules in Amendment Three  the technical Bulletin explains how to connect both unidirectional and bidirectional protective  devices in locations with power sources such as battery packs solar panels or vehicle to grid  enabled electric vehicles this update aligns with the amendment which was published on the 31st of  July 2024 the trade Association has also added a safety checklist to help identify non-conforming  products it lists all the new marking requirements for unidirectional and bidirectional devices so  you can check that the kit is kosher the docs are free to download and I've popped the links  in the show notes urgent guidance has also just been published by the Electrical Contractors  Association this time it's about automated electric gates the reason many electricians  are not aware of the fact that as the last person to touch the gate they effectively assume  responsibility for the safety of the installation that's because under the law automated gates are  classified as machines so in the event of any accident or incident any work undertaken by an  electrician will be under intense scrutiny and if there's any evidence to indicate negligence  the installer will be liable to prosecution in fact courts have already handed down big  fines relating to automated gate accidents ranging from £10,000 to £550,000 there's also been a case  where an installer was given a prison sentence on the grounds of manslaughter the ECA says  any electricians should think carefully before they agree to work on this type of project the  organisation says you should take the necessary specialist training and be aware of the action  required to mitigate any risks to safety at the minimum it says Gates must have a non-con safety  such as a photo cell or a laser as well as pressure edges to stop a gate closing if it  encounters a person or object I've put the link to the ECA's warning and some advice from the  Gate Safe organisation in the show notes in other news a Wolverhampton man who suffered  horrific Burns to his body after touching a high tension electrical cable has been reunited with  the ambulance staff who helped to save his life in November 2020 Darren Harris received an electric  shock in an abandoned building while trying to steal scrap metal he put his left arm into  into an 11KV switchboard which completely melted his forearms down to the bone he also received  Burns to his face arms chest and abdomen and spent several months receiving specialist treatment at  Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham four years on he returned to stoke ambulance Hub to meet the  crew and the trauma doctor who saved his life Mr Harris said he had wanted to say thank you to the  paramedics ever since the incident but the timing hadn't been right the doctors said it was rare for  people to survive such a surge of electricity through the body Harris says that sharing his  story helps him overcome everything and put it to rest in his head he said the past few years  have been very traumatic and very difficult but he's on the mend and trying to do good things  and Good Deeds the security of software which allows householders to control their Renewable  Power sources has been called into question this week it follows the Revelation that a customer  who purchased a home battery found he was able to switch the power in 60,000 locations across the UK  Ryan Castellucci recently had solar panels and a battery storage system installed at his house just  outside London he intended to set up some scheduled charging but while configuring the  software interface known as an API he found he could gain access into the admin account  this gave him control over 200 mW of programmable capacity that's the equivalent of a power station  Castellucci says he could charge or discharge to the Grid at will tens of thousands of battery  packs software Engineers say the issue was that the encryption key was just 512 bits  which is considered low by today's standards give energy the supplier of the battery system  says that it installed a fix within 6 hours of learning of the security breach it says it  actively worked with Castellucci a security researcher on the remedy in a statement the  company said that no organisation is infallible to cyber security threats in a world where risk  changes constantly there is no such thing as 100% secure thank goodness Mr Castelluchhi decided to  use his abilities for good and not for evil if it' hacked into Gary's home battery we'd  never have heard the end of it building industry Chiefs are exploring alternatives to the custom  of retention current practice is for the main contractor or sometimes the client to withhold  5% of a project value for a year to ensure that snagging is completed but experts say that  this sum is typically insufficient to deal with significant defects and withholding money harms  cash flow and investment additionally sometimes contractors go bust During the period resulting  in a permanent loss to subcontractors now the construction Leadership Council is suggesting  a rating system for firms which is based on their quality performance in previous jobs it's similar  to the way you'd rate an Uber driver but instead it would be a number between 1 and 100 however in  a recent proof of concept trial the organisation discovered that the industry doesn't like sharing  its data on defects who knew however one of the clc's partners at the trial the get it  right initiative says it will persevere with the development of an app for assessing contractors  in product news this week EV blocks has unveiled a concrete base for DC chargers because they're  pre-cast the company's blocks eliminate the need for pouring and curing concrete bases this allows  for quicker installation and reduced downtime the B800 features a single entry point for ducting and  a detachable adapter plate for mounting DC charges the company says it provides easy access to cables  and hard-to-reach areas during the ducting cable pulling and cable dressing phases Lewden has  launched a consumer unit configurator tool this online platform is designed to help electricians  to easily create bespoke consumer units that perfectly match their requirements you can  access it on both the mobile and desktop versions of Lewden's website there are three main options  the RCBO dual row RCBO and dual RCCB consumer unit at the end of every configuration you can ask for  a quote for either a pre-assembled unit ready for installation or list of individual components for  assembly yourself each option comes pre-fitted with a 100 amp double pole main switch and a type  2 SPD as standard for a single row RCBO unit you can choose between round and rectangular Knockouts  with options for five to 18 usable ways and two coloUr choices the dragon drop interface makes it  easy to add RCBOs AFDDs and DIN rail blanks for dual row units there are 21 to 39 usable ways  in classic white the Dual RCCB unit supports up to three high integrity circuits you can choose  between eight and 17 usable ways and select from a range of MCBs RCBOs AFDDS RCBOs RCDs  and blanks when you're finished you'll get a list of part numbers and product data sheets the link  to the configurator is in the show notes there's been a big boost this week for the concept of EV  charging cables running across the pavement Milton Keynes city council is giving the thumbs up to a  ducting system from Kerbo charge the council has just completed a trial of the product which is  designed to help householders without driveways to charge their car easily as its recess there's no  trip Hazard for pedestrians it follows a similar move by West Berkshire last month Milton Keyes  will now make the Kerbo charge duct available to all its residents Kerbo charge says home charging  is 5 to 10 times cheaper than public charges when a resident wants to charge their car they insert  the cable into the channel and the lid closes behind it like a zip eliminating any trip Hazard  the approval has been welcomed by Kerbo investor and TV star Deborah Meadan who backed The Firm on  an episode of Dragon's Den I still think they've missed a trick there though they could have called  it kerbaretta like carbaretta because it relates to cars and that's a thing in a car no okay I'm  clearly a little rusty after the holidays we'll pull it back and finally if you've been wondering  where Joe 3PO has been hiding out recently I can reveal that he's been down at the firing  range popping off targets and dunking electrical components into glasses of water hopefully had a  pair of marigolds to hand for that after a few days he returned to Sideline Studios wide-eyed  and breathless claiming he had discovered a way to turn a standard down light into an emergency light  we were disbelieving too until we took a look at his latest video the link as you know by now is  in the show notes lastly a reminder that we're in the market for your stories your projects and  your recommendations as we'd like to share them with the wider eFIXX community in September we're  shifting our Focus to Commercial Lighting tools and workwear and of course diving into the Safe  4 September campaign that we fully support send us pictures of your installs or let us know if you've  come across any new kit that's making your job easier now just before we get to your favourite  bit of the show where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners we want to thank our  premium Partners we couldn't make the news without you first up it's the people who've created the  Swiss army knife of solar inverters along with all weather batteries very much the Boy Scouts  of the solar industry it's SunSynk up next they're resolving ventilation problems one property at a  time offering a simplistic ventilation design service and high quality products made right  here in the UK breathing fresh air into your home its environment next they're the brand that Pride  themselves on keeping people close to what's important with the world's most recognisable  doorbell chime it's RING and do you want a no fuss lighting Solution that's packed with value  then try the Ecolink range from signify combining value for money with top-end signify quality now a  business that will literally bend over backwards to give you the first class service on the trade  only supply of signal reception and distribution custom install home automation and security  products for all residential and Commercial projects it's Alltrade if you want to pump up the  jam and join the home heating Revolution then it's got to be heat pumps from Daikin the best thing  to come out of Yorkshire since stainless steel the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking  and quality products it's Doncaster cables with an incredible range of equipment from EV charge  points through industrial sockets and switches to kit for explosive areas plus they supplied  gear for a Campari factory so they'll always have a place in my heart it's Scame big thanks to you  all we really appreciate your ongoing support for the news if you think you know the words that I've  smuggled into this week's show pop your guess into the comments we'll take all the correct guesses  and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after  about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw now let's reveal the  winners of last week's challenge word competition the words were adrenaline and apricot and the  winner from the last episode is Andrew Watson 3576 so well done to you Andrew make sure you click  the get involved Link in the show notes to claim your prize thanks for listening to this episode  of electrical newsweekly in association with solar trade sales your easy One-Stop shop for all things  solar make sure you subscribe to receive the next update thanks for listening and until next time  have a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a Torque calibrated arm