Design your home's electrical panel

The use of a 30mA residual current device (RCD) for human life protection remains absolutely mandatory. The new standard requires RCDs of the appropriate type. Type A is now established for modern household appliances, with the explicit need for advanced types (such as Type F or B+) in homes incorporating photovoltaics, heat pumps, and EV chargers.

ELOT 60364 introduces specific requirements for installing surge protection devices in the electrical panel. This is now essential for protecting sensitive electronic and "smart" home equipment from grid surges or lightning strikes.

One of the most important innovations is the introduction of Arc Fault Detection Devices. These devices protect against fire risk caused by poor contact in a socket or a damaged cable, with a strong recommendation for use particularly in bedrooms.

Installation methods and tables for calculating permissible current capacity of cables (Section 5-52) have changed. Stricter consideration is now given to factors such as harmonic components from modern electronic power supplies and routing methods (e.g., cables passing through heavily insulated walls).

For new buildings, foundation earthing construction is mandatory to achieve low resistance and maximum safety.

The standard specifies clear methods for installation testing before commissioning, introducing new methods such as earth resistance measurement with clamp meters and voltage drop measurement. For residences, initial testing with certified instruments and periodic re-testing at least every 10 years is required.

Electrical lines in walls must strictly follow horizontal or vertical paths, always parallel to room edges. Diagonal or random routing is prohibited. Diagonal routing is only permitted within ceilings, floors, or wall cavities (e.g., plasterboard) where cables are free.

Flush-mounted lines must be placed within the plaster and buried at least 5mm from the final surface. External lines at heights below 2.40m must be strictly protected (e.g., in rigid conduits) against mechanical damage.

In the load-bearing structure (columns and beams), cutting or altering the steel reinforcement is strictly prohibited. Cable routing through concrete is only permitted using high-strength conduits (steel pipes or approved heavy-duty plastic pipes).

To ensure cables are never trapped and can be replaced in the future, junction boxes or inspection chambers must be installed at long continuous runs, every curve, and every conduit intersection.

Flexible cables must be routed with sufficient slack, avoiding excessive tensile stress. This ensures mechanical pressures will not pull and damage the connections at terminal blocks.

Electrical equipment must have an appropriate IP protection rating based on installation location. Wet areas (bathrooms, outdoors) require at least IP44, while indoor dry areas require IP20. Bathroom zones (Zone 0, 1, 2) strictly define what is permitted at each distance from the bath/shower.

The standard defines minimum cross-sections: 1.5mm² for lighting circuits, 2.5mm² for sockets, 4mm² or 6mm² for heavy loads (AC, water heater, cooker), and 10mm² or 16mm² for the supply line. The earth conductor must be at least equal in cross-section to the phase conductor.