1794 Scossa Elettrica

I posted this mesage in another thread but subsequent posts have left me worried that the reassuring words of my landlord might not have been correct. Can anyone tell me what the regulations require and if the [I]impianto elettrico[/I] is [I]fuore della legge[/I] ?

I rent an apartment that is part of a condominio, which has no earth wiring. I received a mild eletric shock from a screw on the outside of a light switch (the screw was brushing against a loose wire inside the switch). This worried me the more because it happened in the bathroom when I was wearing rubber soled shoes. I asked the landlord what he thought might have happened to me if I had been in the bath at the time. He said that I would never have been electrocuted because there is an RCD (salvavita) installed and that is so safe that that is all the law requies of them. Italian friends tell me that this situation is commonplace and are of the same opinion as my landlord that the law requires the impianto to be earthed OR an RCD to be installed.

I have read what I imagine is the correct regulation but I find paragraph 2 ambiguous - what do others think?
Legge 5 Marzo 1990, n. 46 - Art. 7 (Installazione degli impianti)
1. Le imprese installatrici sono tenute ad eseguire gli impianti a regola d'arte utilizzando allo scopo materiali parimenti costruiti a regola d'arte. I materiali ed i componenti realizzati secondo le norme tecniche di sicurezza dell'Ente italiano di unificazione (UNI) e del Comitato elettrotecnico italiano (CEI), nonché nel rispetto di quanto prescritto dalla legislazione tecnica vigente in materia, si considerano costruiti a regola d'arte.
2. In particolare gli impianti elettrici devono essere dotati di impianti di messa a terra e di interruttori differenziali ad alta sensibilità o di altri sistemi di protezione equivalenti.
3. Tutti gli impianti realizzati alla data di entrata in vigore della presente legge devono essere adeguati, entro tre anni da tale data (2), a quanto previsto dal presente articolo.

Category
Health & Safety

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/23/2005 - 16:10

[quote=sdoj]...I have read what I imagine is the correct regulation but I find paragraph 2 ambiguous - what do others think?
Legge 5 Marzo 1990, n. 46 - Art. 7 (Installazione degli impianti)
1.....
2. In particolare gli impianti elettrici devono essere dotati di impianti di messa a terra e di interruttori differenziali ad alta sensibilità o di altri sistemi di protezione equivalenti.
3. Tutti gli impianti realizzati alla data di entrata in vigore della presente legge devono essere adeguati, entro tre anni da tale data (2), a quanto previsto dal presente articolo.[/quote]

Ciao,
I think the paragraph 2 is quite clear: there must be the ground earth AND the RCD. In alternative to the RCD, other protective devices can be used, but the earth circuit must be present anyway.

I rapidly googled the web, searching for a confirmation, and I found this:

[URL="http://www.proprietaricasa.org/arcidiacono/arcidiacono.php?l=440"]http://www.proprietaricasa.org/arcidiacono/arcidiacono.php?l=440[/URL]

look at the last question at the end of the page: the expert states that due to the law 46/90 the earth wiring is mandatory and must be certified as well.

hth

Paolo

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/24/2005 - 13:34

[QUOTE=Paolino]Ciao,
I think the paragraph 2 is quite clear: there must be the ground earth AND the RCD. In alternative to the RCD, other protective devices can be used, but the earth circuit must be present anyway.

I rapidly googled the web, searching for a confirmation, and I found this:

[URL="http://www.proprietaricasa.org/arcidiacono/arcidiacono.php?l=440"]http://www.proprietaricasa.org/arcidiacono/arcidiacono.php?l=440[/URL]

look at the last question at the end of the page: the expert states that due to the law 46/90 the earth wiring is mandatory and must be certified as well.

hth

Paolo[/QUOTE]

Paolo

Thank you very much indeed - landlord doesn't want to do the works because he says the conduits (tubi) are too small to accept three wires and changing the conduits would be too expensive and be too disruptive for us. I might try insisting they do just the kitchen and bathrooms.

Thanks again for your advice.