The_King Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 SINGAPORE - In a move to improve safety, all Housing Board flats and private residences will be required to have a residual current circuit breaker (RCCB) installed by July 1, although there will be a two-year grace period to get this done. The Housing Development Board (HDB) said it will cover the installation and rewiring cost for one and two-room flats built in and before before July 1985 and sold, while those staying in larger flats will get a subsidy of up to 95 per cent. The RCCB prevents electric shocks by cutting off the supply of electricity when it detects a current leak, which may be caused by ageing or exposed wires, faulty electrical appliances or damaged insulation. The installation of RCCBs has been a requirement in newly-built homes since July 1985. While older homes which were rewired during renovation would have had an RCCB installed, in line with this requirement, a small percentage of homes could still be using their original circuits which rely on fuses to protect against current overload, according to a joint statement by HDB and the Energy Market Authority (EMA). A spokesman from EMA said that the new regulations were introduced by the agency to enhance the electrical safety of older homes that may not have an RCCB installed. Those living in HDB flats built before July 1985, and without an RCCB installed, will be notified by the EMA to do so. Those living in private residences will also be asked to check and install an RCCB if they do not already have one. An HDB spokesman said that the RCCB installation exercise will involve 83 one and two-room flats and some 6,400 three-room or larger flats, all of which were built before July 1985. HDB said it does not have the figures for private residences without RCCBs, but expect the numbers to be low, as these property owners would likely have renovated their premises and carried out re-wiring works since the 1985 regulation came into effect. There are around 1.09 million HDB homes as of 2022 according to the Department of Statistics’ website. Homeowners are advised to contact a licensed electrical worker to carry out the RCCB installation and rewiring works. While all homes need to have a RCCB installed by July 1, there will be a two-year grace period to do so. Failing to do so by July 1, 2025 may lead to a $5,000 fine. Those staying in homes that already have an RCCB installed which is later found to be faulty, or not protecting all electrical circuits in their home, will not be penalised. In 2020, an elderly couple and their son died after they were electrocuted by a wrongly installed water heater and RCCB in their Jurong flat. Power to the water heater was supplied through a three-pin plug connected to an electrical socket when a double-pole switch connected directly to the home’s electrical circuit should have been used instead, said EMA senior associate engineer Goh Chin Fong at the coroner’s hearing. The neutral and earth cables of the water heater’s three-pin plug were found fused together causing the current to flow back to the water heater’s tank and a metallic hose connected to it. The flat, which had been occupied by the couple since the 1970s, had an RCCB installed but investigators found that it did not protect all the electrical circuits in the home, with only the unit’s utility room protected. Investigations revealed that as a result of the improper installation of the RCCB, electricity leaking from the water heater did not cause a power trip, which would have cut off power to the flat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted May 12, 2023 Author Share Posted May 12, 2023 i think they scare electrocuted but electrocuted is not scary 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeenut Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 A CB in every house - that sounds like a good slogan 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalrover Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 The electric box inside most units is already a circuit breaker tio boh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeenut Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 2 minutes ago, metalrover said: The electric box inside most units is already a circuit breaker tio boh? Yeah .. new ones already use a rccb. Very very old homes probably got those fuse - if got fuse blowout, need to replace fuse in full or fuse wire 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_King Posted May 13, 2023 Author Share Posted May 13, 2023 11 hours ago, coffeenut said: Yeah .. new ones already use a rccb. Very very old homes probably got those fuse - if got fuse blowout, need to replace fuse in full or fuse wire Ema cannot stand it, so many fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XianGe Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 Tot HDB already hab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaur4man Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 better install if not tio shock then knnbccb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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