The first century of the wiring regulations

Every edition of the Wiring Regulations has attracted criticism and praise, but no one today questions the IEE´s right to make the rules. It was not always so. For many years insurance companies produced their own rules, which had to be followed before they would insure buildings with electrical installations. Those responsible for designing and installing wiring and equipment found the multiplicity of rules very irksome, and they pressed for uniformity. The Institution´s rules were only gradually accepted as the Institution itself gained acceptance as an authoritative body. By the First World War, however, virtually all insurers accepted the IEE Rules. Now in their fifteenth edition, the Rules have been changed as ideas and technology have developed. Many of the early rules sound distinctly strange today: one hundred years ago it was not permitted to have a potential difference of more than 200V between two points in the same room, but there was no suggestion that anything should be earthed. The language used has always brought complaints, for being too complex and poorly expressed. One early defender of the IEE remarked that the Rules were `originally drafted in good English but afterwards amended in committee¿¿.