Installing electrics to campervan

[cornburn]

I've had a search around here and can't find much related to installations within campervans, motorhomes, vehicles etc. Does anyone have experience of what would be required as much of the testing would be irrelevant. Looking at a small RCD board to run 3 way fridge, cooker, sockets, tv, lights etc in a small campervan but not sure about if any certification is required or just to design and test and make sure everything's on a 30mA trip.

There's also how the public / product liability would feel but that's a whole other problem!

 

[SirKit Breaker]

It is not often that i send someone in the direction of the wiring regs, but that is your destination on this matter. you will need a cert, and your insurer will most definitely want to know about it as well.
You may need a cert to show if you are going to plug yourself into someones camp site if you get my drift.

Cheers..........Howard

 

[UNG]

What about battery charging and 12v DC circuits as well as BS 7671 there is also BS EN 1648 - 1 for caravans and BS EN 1648 - 2 for motorhomes with regard to wiring

With regard to testing and inspection
The National Caravan Council (NCC) via it's approved workshop scheme (AWS) and the Caravan Industry Training Organisation (CITO) have been pushing for the last few years to introduce a system where site owners require sight of a valid PIR / EICR before hook up to the caravan site electrical system to date this has not gained much momentum other than forcing engineers onto CITO courses to maintain their AWS status . I would suggest the certification methods taught on these courses would make certification prohibitively expensive for the caravan owner and the uptake has been very minimal, while this doesn't excuse the need for a certificate I think a qualified electrician could do this much cheaper and more thoroughly.

 

[cornburn]

Great, thanks both. Some further reading to do on this then I think, for anyone searching for this in future NIC have a specimen cert I've found here http://niceic.com/Uploads/File2009.pdf

It appears the AWS seems to cover garages to do all sorts of work and repairs on caravans etc including warranty work and all sorts so this isn't something I'd want to get involved in, purely just interested in the electrical side of campervan conversions so it looks like certifying through the NIC is probably the way to go. Should have known they'd have come up with a way to monetise it Cheers again!

 

[UNG]

The references I posted to the various organisations were purely for information as to how the caravan industry is trying to regulate itself or not as the case may be

As you have found only the NICEIC have a specific cert for this type of installation which is better than the one produced by the NCC

From the number of new caravans produced I suspect that the EIC's produced at the factory are very generic and only a sample leaving the factory are actually tested

I would point out that many caravans and motorhomes leave the factory with regulation non compliances but the industry turns a blind eye

 

[Matty o]

This about 60% of my work the 230v is well covered in the regs, special location for motorhomes.
The 12v don't have regs but i tend to follow good electrical practice, for the leisure equipment i use 2 core vehicle cable running a neutral as well as a live to each point.

 

[Guest111]

This about 60% of my work the 230v is well covered in the regs, special location for motorhomes.
The 12v don't have regs but i tend to follow good electrical practice, for the leisure equipment i use 2 core vehicle cable running a neutral as well as a live to each point.

think you mean a positive and negative,if you,re talking about dc circuits its referred to as positve and negative not live and neutral.

 

[UNG]

This about 60% of my work the 230v is well covered in the regs, special location for motorhomes.
The 12v don't have regs but i tend to follow good electrical practice, for the leisure equipment i use 2 core vehicle cable running a neutral as well as a live to each point.

Take it you haven't looked at BS EN 1648 - 1 and BS EN 1648 - 2 from your comment. The 12v does have regs added a couple of links so you can get up to speed

BS EN 1648-1:2004 - Leisure accommodation vehicles. 12 V direct current extra low voltage electrical installations. Caravans

BS EN 1648-2:2005 - Leisure accommodation vehicles. 12 V direct current extra low voltage electrical installations. Motor caravans

 

[Matty o]

Well there you go you learn something every day
I knew there was guidance for new vans and for equipment but not for later wiring conversions

Best order a copy and have a look