Getting your electrical system to comply with the law: norm NF C15-100
The French norm, known as NF C15-100 is the gold standard in terms of safety and
technical requirements for domestic electrical installations. Electricity in all houses
must be installed in compliance with this norm.
If you are bringing in electricity to a house for the first time (during a renovation
project, for instance) the French state electricity supplier, Electricite de France, or
EDF, will demand that your installation meets this norm, or they will not connect you.
They will delegate responsibility for checking your system to a group called Consuel,
which is an independent body in charge of checking electrical installations. Consuel
will check your installation and issue a document called ‘attestation de conformité’ (or
a ‘certificate of compliance’) stating that the electrical installation meets the Consuel
regulations and safety requirements.
What follows are the various technical requirements that Consuel will be looking for.
Protecting the circuits (circuit breakers and fuses)
The table below shows the maximum fuse ratings and cable sections you are allowed
to use to protect the various circuits. Remember that these ratings are maximums –
and that a lower rated fuse is often better to insure an efficient protection for
appliances and people.
Type of circuit
Copper
conductor to use
Fuse
(maximum
rating)
Circuit
breaker
(maximum
rating)
Lighting
1,5 mm²
10 A
16 A
10/16 A sockets
2,5 mm²
20 A
25 A
Water boiler
2,5 mm²
20 A
25 A
Washing machine, dishwasher etc
2,5 mm²
20 A
25 A
Single phase cooking
appliances: ovens, hotplates
etc
6 mm²
32 A
32 A
Electric heating
1,5 mm²
10 A
16 A
The fuse board must be placed at between 1m to 1.8m high from the ground. It should
not be placed in a cupboard, near water supplies or heating appliances.
Minimum number of lighting sockets and wall sockets per room
The norm sets a minimum number of plugs and sources of light per room which must
be taken into account when planning your installation. These are meant to ensure
basic comfort, without the need for multiple adaptors.
Room
Living-room
Light
sockets
1*
Wall sockets Singles
or doubles
5**
Heavy duty
socket (32 A)
_
Bedroom
1*
3
_
Kitchen
2
4***
_
Bathroom
2
1
_
Entrance hall
1
1
_
Washing
machine
_
_
1
Storeroom
1
1
_
W-C
1
_
_
* a switched socket can replace a light socket
** at least one plug every 3 metres
*** 2 above the work-top, 1 for a specialised circuit (dish-washer for instance), 1 for
a cooking appliances (oven, hotplates)
Minimum number of circuits in the building
The norm also sets a minimum number of compulsory independent circuits in the
house depending on the number of rooms. Each of them should be protected by a
security device (fuses and circuit breaker)
Number of
rooms in the
house
Lighting
circuits
Wall
socket
circuits
Cooking
appliance
Washing
machine
Water
boiler
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
3
2
3
1
1
1
4
2
3 or 4
1
1
1
5
2
3 or 4
1
1
1
6
2
4
1
1
1
An independent circuit must supply electricity for large appliances like washing
machines, water boilers, cooking appliances etc)
Circuits for lights and sockets must not contain more than 5 electric outlets. A double
socket counts as a single electrical outlet.
Installing and embedding ducts and conduits
In general, a duct or a conduit must cover all wires.
Ducts and cables can be put in the spaces between between partition or wall linings
and so on, if they sufficiently insulated and cannot be damaged.
Electrical equipment such as switches and sockets must be mounted in boxes.
You must make sure that any grooves or channels do not weaken partitions or walls in
which they are put in place: in a 50 mm finished partition wall, a duct of 15 mm
maximum can be inserted; in a 100 mm partition, a duct of 20 mm inserted, and in a
plaster brick wall of 60 mm thickness, a 16 mm duct can be installed.
How to install wall sockets (distance from the ground)
Wall sockets must all be earthed, and covered with a blanking plate/cap (security for
children)
Each wall socket circuit must have its own circuit breaker (16A, 20A or 32A
depending on its use)
Indoors: a 16A socket is mounted 5cm from ground level, and a 32A plug at 12cm
minimum from the ground.
Outdoors: plugs must be put in place 1 metre from the ground and the protection
index must be IP25 (ie for waterproofing. See below)
Putting several circuits in one ducting pipe
Here, we should define a circuit as a set of wires supplied with power by the same
source and protected by the same security device (circuit-breaker or fuse).
You can insert several circuits in one duct, but only if:
-
all wires are insulated
-
all circuits are connected to the same general protection device (differential circuitbreaker)
-
the thickness of the wires must be of similar (but not necessary identical) dimensions.
In fact, they must not differ by more than 2 ‘steps’ of size: So you could put 1.5 mm²
and 2.5mm² and 4mm² together, or alternatively, 2.5 mm² and 4mm² and 6mm²
together, but not 1.5mm² and 6mm²),
-
each circuit must be protected by a circuit-breaker
In practice, it is possible to put several circuits in the same sheath. But you also need
to respect the maximum number of wires allowed for the sheath: you should not
‘force’ wires into the sheath.
For example: for a 16mm² sheath, the internal surface is 30mm². So you can put 3
wires of 1.5 mm² (3x8.55=26mm²)
Diameter of the wires according to the socket ratings
When you install an electric socket, you must meet the following criteria for wire
thickness:
Socket rating (A)
16
Section of wires (mm²)
1,5
20 to 25
2,5
32
4
40 to 50
6
63
10
Please note that in practice, you use 2.5mm² wires for all 16A or 25A plugs.
Authorised power according to the electric light fittings
As in the UK, there are two types of light fittings:
bayonet fittings and screw bulb fittings. For each type, a
code indicates the maximum power authorised.
Type
Code
Maximum power (W)
Power (A)
Bayonet
(B)
B15
60
2
B22
150
4
E14
200
1
E27
400
2
E40
3000
15
Screw (E)
Typical types of domestic wiring installation
The norm defines three types of installation
a) ‘Economique’ or ‘Budget’ in English
-
An electricity supply meter and a mains power circuit-breaker of 500mA (installed by
EDF)
-
A lightning-protector: compulsory in certain geographical areas
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip switch rated at 30mA to protect:
o
Sockets
o
Lights
o
Bathrooms
-
Fuses fitted to all other appliances
b) ‘Comfort’:
-
An electricity supply meter and mains power circuit-breaker 500mA (installed by
EDF)
-
A lightning-protector: compulsory in certain geographical areas
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip-switch 30mA to protect:
o
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:

Sockets
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip-switch 30mA to protect:
o
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:

Lights

Bathrooms
o
Separate circuit breakers for all other appliances
c) ‘High security’ installation:
-
An electricity supply meter and a mains power circuit-breaker 500mA (installed by
EDF)
-
A lightning-protector: compulsory in certain geographical areas
-
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:
o
Sockets
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip-switch 30 mA to protect:
o
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:

Lights

Bathrooms
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip-switch 30 mA to protect:
o
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:

Heavy/large appliances
-
A differential circuit-breaker or trip-switch 30 mA to protect:
o
Separate circuit-breakers protecting:

Electric convector heaters
Of course you can create your own installation by mixing the three solutions
described above. The main thing though is to meet the minimum requirements – in
other words, the schema of the basic ‘budget’ installation.
Lightning protection
Installing a lightning-protector is compulsory in areas prone to thunder – indicated by
a measure known as the ‘niveau keronique’.
A lightning-protector must be installed directly after the circuit breaker (differential
500mA and must be connected to the earth terminal of the installation, which should
have a connection resistance of no more than 30Ohms.
Departments where a lightning-protector is needed:
01 - Ain
31 - Garonne (Haute)
65 - Pyrénées (Hautes)
04 - Alpes de Haute
Provance
32 - Gers
66 - Pyrénées Orientales
05 - Alpes (Hautes)
33 - Gironde
67 - Rhin (Bas)
06 - Alpes Maritimes
34 - Hérault
68 - Rhin (Haut)
07 - Ardèche
38 - Isère
69 - Rhônes
09 - Ariège
39 - Jura
70 - Saône (Haute)
12 - Aveyron
40 - Landes
71 - Saône et Loire
15 - Cantal
42 - Loire
73 - Savoie
16 - Charente
43 - Loire (Haute)
74 - Savoie (Haute)
19 - Corrèze
46 - Lot
81 - Tarn
2A - Corse du Sud
47 - Lot et Garonne
82 - Tarn et Garonne
23 - Creuse
57 - Moselle
83 - Var
24 - Dordogne
58 - Nièvre
88 - Vosges
25 - Doubs
63 - Puy de Dôme
90 - Territoire de
Belfort
26 - Drôme
64 - Pyrénées
Atlantiques
However, it is better to protect all sensitive appliances (computers, video-recorder,
programmable appliances) with a 10A/16A plug socket with integrated surge
protection.
Earthing connections
The earth takes all the earth connections of the various appliances to a single point. It
must also have a test point (usally accessed with a special tool) where an electrician
can test the earth resistance.
As in the UK, the earth lead insulation is green and yellow. It should be protected
from any potential damage, and ideally inserted in the same conduits as the live
(known as ‘phase’) and neutral (neutre) wires the neutral that it protects.
The earth circuit must be continuous, and not be broken by any switches, and should
be wired in parallel, rather than in series, so that each appliance has an ininterupted
route back to the earthing point. The earth lead should be at least in cross-section to
the live wire that it is protecting:
And it is strictly forbidden to use metal conduits such as water or gas pipes as earthing
systems.
The neutral conductor
The section of the neutral wire must be at least as big as the section of the
corresponding live wire.
In France, for an installation in a house, the neutral regime provided by EDF is known
as regime TT (neutral on the earth, mass connection to the earth). This regime is
meant to detect a failure at the very first signal (thanks to the earth leakage circuit
breaker).
Warning: Even when the live wire does not supply electricity for an appliance (a
lamp for example), the neutral wire can still carry current! The only way to cut the
power is to turn off circuit breaker for the lighting circuit (or whatever you are
working on).
Bathrooms
It is prohibited to put in place sockets, lights or electrical appliances in and above
bathtubs or showers. The only authorised sockets are ‘razor only’ plugs. If you install
appliances such as washing machines or dryers in your bathroom, sockets for these
must be placed at least 2.4m from the bath and/or shower.
Inside bathtubs or
showers
No 230V or 12V sockets
Area 1
The space above
Area 0
No sockets except for TBT (very
low tension, 12V) and electrical
water-boilers of minimum class
II
Area 2
Not within Areas 1 Sockets separated by a
& 2, but within a
protection transformer (low
60cm radius of these power)
Area 0
Beyond Area 2,
Sockets separated by a
Volume 3 within a 2.4m radius protection transformer (no power
minimum
limit)
The electrical circuit must be protected by a 30mA circuit-breaker.