§131 — Protection Principles

NEN 1010 Chapter 1, §131 describes the fundamental principles for the protection of persons, animals, and property against electrical hazards.

Three Pillars

1. Protection against electric shock (§131.2) — direct and indirect contact.
2. Protection against thermal influences (§131.3) — fire and burns caused by overcurrent.
3. Protection against overcurrent (§131.4) — short circuit and overload.

Practice

• Every installation must make a deliberate choice between IT, TT, TN-S, TN-C, and TN-C-S systems.
• A 30 mA residual current device (RCD) is mandatory in Dutch dwellings (§411.3.3).
• Selectivity between fuses is covered in §536.

Next step: read §411 for the implementation of automatic disconnection of the supply (AUV).