The approach favoured by the FEEDS programme for improving the situation in Europe is one based primarily on regulation. For new buildings, adequate standards and suitable verification are already largely in place. For existing buildings, the situation is very much worse. The FEEDS programme places priority on regular inspection combined with an enforced correction of defects as the main mechanism for improvement. Providing incentives to upgrade and improving awareness come in as secondary objectives.

Each country of Europe has its own regulatory code of practice covering electrical installations. These codes are based largely on international IEC or regional CENELEC standards. When new codes come in, they usually apply only to new buildings and are not applied retrospectively to existing stock.

… fault correction needs to be  enforced to assure that Europe’s domestic wiring will be safe

Even where the codes applying to existing buildings are sufficient, there is little or no requirement for periodic inspection, let alone enforced implementation. While CENELEC recommends an inspection every ten years, at present, there is no periodic inspection regime in any of the EU-15 countries. While such a requirement does officially exist in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia, it is not enforced.

Most inspections of domestic electrical installations that do occur in Europe are event-driven. They happen when a building is entirely renovated and needs new permits or at the time of ownership transfer. Clearly, this will not ensure regular or consistent inspection. France and Italy are working towards a legal requirement for periodic inspection, other countries though are still some way behind.

It is only when all buildings are regularly inspected, when the standards applied are consistent between new and existing buildings and fault correction is enforced that we can be assured that Europe’s domestic wiring will be safe. The regulatory process still has a very long way to go to achieve this end.