Residential consumer unit — generic IEC 60364
Generic European residential consumer unit per IEC 60364 / EN 61439-3 — service head, isolator, type-AC main RCD, and per-circuit MCBs for lighting, sockets, kitchen, water heater, EV charger (with type-B RCBO), and outdoor circuit.
For the European domestic installer
Scenario
A domestic electrical installer in any IEC 60364 jurisdiction — France (NF C 15-100), Germany (DIN VDE 0100), the United Kingdom (BS 7671), Italy (CEI 64-8), Australia / New Zealand (AS/NZS 3000), and most of the rest of the world outside the NEC — files this single-line as part of the Certificat de Conformité / Elektroinstallationsattest / Electrical Installation Condition Report required after a new installation or major alteration. EN 61439-3 is the European harmonized standard for Distribution Boards intended to be operated by Ordinary persons (DBO), and IEC 60364-4-41 governs the protection-against-shock chain (isolation → 30 mA RCD → branch protection). Unlike NEC residential practice where the panel lives as a leaf on the SLD with internals on a separate panel schedule, the IEC 60364 single-line is expected to expand the consumer unit's internal protection chain.
Annotation key
utility [voltage:..., label: "Service head…"]— the cut-out / service-fuse head where the distribution network terminates and the customer installation beginswatthour_meter— utility-owned kWh meter (smart meter in most modern installations)breaker [label: "Main isolator"]— main switch / isolator that disconnects the entire installation, sized at or above the cut-out fuse ratingground_fault [rating: "…A / 30mA Type AC", label: "Main RCD"]— whole-installation residual-current device, 30 mA sensitivity, Type AC (the IEC 60364 default for circuits without significant DC residual content)bus [voltage: "230V", label: "Consumer-unit busbar"]— the internal busbar of the consumer unit, rendered as a horizontal rail to which every branch device connectsbreaker [rating: "…A B-curve" or "…A C-curve", label: "MCB …"]— branch miniature circuit breaker: B-curve (3–5 × In) for resistive / lighting / general-sockets circuits, C-curve (5–10 × In) for inductive loads (kitchen ring, immersion heater) — per IEC 60898-1ground_fault [rating: "32A / 30mA Type B", label: "RCBO EV charger"]— Type B RCBO is mandatory on EV charging circuits per IEC 60364-7-722 / HD 60364-7-722 because Mode-3 chargers can leak DC residual currents that blind a Type AC RCDload— the final circuit served by each MCB / RCBO[cable: "… mm² Cu PVC|XLPE"]— conductor cross-sectional area, copper, with PVC insulation for indoor cables and XLPE for outdoor / EV runs
How to read
The service head delivers single-phase 230 V at the cut-out fuse rating (63 A here). The kWh meter records consumption, then the main isolator gives a single-action means of disconnecting the entire installation for maintenance. Downstream of the isolator the main RCD provides shock protection at 30 mA Type AC for the bulk of branch circuits; from the consumer-unit busbar, six MCBs feed lighting, two socket circuits, a kitchen ring, a water heater, and an outdoor circuit. The EV charger does not share the main RCD — IEC 60364-7-722 requires a Type B RCBO on the charger circuit because the Mode-3 charge controller can produce smooth DC residual currents that a Type AC RCD cannot detect, leaving people unprotected against shock during a DC fault. Cable sizes scale with the MCB rating per the relevant national reference method (1.5 mm² for 6 A lighting, 2.5 mm² for 16 A sockets, 4 mm² for 20 A kitchen / heater, 6 mm² for the 32 A EV charger). An inspector reads the diagram top-down to verify the protection chain and the discrimination between the main RCD and the EV-circuit RCBO.