[2] BS 7671 is also used as a national standard by Mauritius, St Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Cyprus, and several other countries, which base their wiring regulations on it.
The regulations in BS 7671 apply to the design, selection, erection and verification of electrical installations such as those of:[3] 'Premises' covers the land and all facilities including buildings belonging to it.
Exclusions:[4] BS 7671 only covers electrical systems with the following characteristics:[5] This includes low-voltage installations, as found in most domestic and commercial properties, and extra-low-voltage systems, but excludes high voltage, as found in generation, transmission and distribution networks.
The first edition was published in 1882 as the "Rules and Regulations for the Prevention of Fire Risks arising from Electric Lighting."
The historical timeline of publication can be found within documents published by the IET, such as within the PDF detailing amendment 3 to the 18th edition ([8]), and is summarised below, along with some notable other events.
Quoting the amendment document:[9] Amendment No.2:2004 to BS 7671:2001 implements the cable core colours introduced in the revision of CENELEC Harmonization Document HD 308 S2: 2001 Identification of cores in cables and flexible cords and agrees generally with BS EN 60446 : 2000 Basic and safety principles for the man-machine interface, marking and identification.
The three-phase phase colours are brown, black and grey instead of red, yellow and blue.
In all installations the earth or protective conductor will remain green-and-yellow.RCDs were now required for most outlets in domestic premises or otherwise for general use by unskilled persons.
Amendment 1 replaced Periodic inspection reports (PIRs) with Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICRs), a section on surge protection devices (SPDs) was introduced, and some details relating to medical locations were added.
[11] Amendment 3 introduced requirements for the use of non-combustable consumer units (or enclosures) in domestic premises, along with use of metal wiring/containment clips in certain situations, and expanded use of RCDs into commercial/industrial spaces.