BS 1363 Plugs and Sockets

The UK’s BS 1363 is the world’s safest mains plug and socket.

PlugSafe is a volunteer organisation working with other bodies to fight the threats to that safety due to abuses, illegal counterfeits and a loophole in the standard itself.

For general information about the BS 1363 standard please visit Wikipedia
For information on the dangers caused by plug-in socket covers for BS 1363 sockets, visit FatallyFlawed
Please sign the UK Government e-petition calling for the regulation of socket covers
PlugSafe also has information on dangerous plug adaptors and chargers.

Counterfeit Plugs

The Plugs and Sockets, etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994 were introduced to provide a regulatory regime to address issues regarding consumer safety. There were concerns that consumer safety was compromised by the substantial quantity of counterfeit and unsafe electrical plugs and sockets being placed on the UK market. Despite this, there are a number of web retailers who advertise counterfeit plugs which, although being fraudulently marked “BS 1363”, are not compliant. These plugs are usually offered as part of a complete lead with a socket on the other end.

A common indicator of a counterfeit plug is an earth pin which is partially insulated. BS 1363 requires that all power pins (the shorter pins) are partially insulated. However, earth pins must be solid brass, or, in the case of plugs intended solely for use with non-earthed devices, solid plastic. BS 1363 is quite specific, clause 12.16 states "Sleeves shall not be fitted to any earthing plug pin." Having a sleeve on an earth pin is dangerous because it can prevent there being any contact to the earth of the socket. To ensure that the earth connection is made as soon as the plug touches the socket many sockets place the contact right at the faceplate, this means that continuity is lost as soon as a plug with a sleeved earth is fully inserted!
PLEASE NOTE: Plugs with partially sleeved earth pins are ALWAYS counterfeit, and are not allowed to be sold, even for non-earthed applications.


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We are always looking for user experiences with counterfeit UK plugs and cables. We are especially interested in first hand experience of sparking, melting and burning (often reported in Amazon customer reviews of counterfeits). Please tell us about your experience.

The cable shown below is the worst type we have seen. We bought them from Amazon.co.uk suppliers “Star e-shop” and “eBlink”, and have also seen them listed on eBay.co.uk. These cables have the following faults:
•Counterfeit fuse ( a very crude imitation with no approval marks, no sand filling, loose end caps) - it was not even connected to anything!
•Partially sleeved earth pin, and all pins are the wrong size.
•The colour coding of the wires is not in conformance with any known standard, and the C5 connector is wired in reverse!
•The moulding of the plug/cable assembly has taken place with the fuse carrier and fuse in place, with nothing to prevent the moulding material flowing into the fuse chamber, one of the samples was almost entirely filled in this way completely sealing in one end of the fuse.
•The plug is marked: “ KING CORO”, “APProved bY BSI” and “Licence No 41231” with a counterfeit Kitemark
•The cable is marked “CCC YF 227 IEC 53(RVV) 3x0.75mm2 300/500V GB5023.5-1997 MADE IN CHINA”, but actual conductors are less than 10% of rated value!
•The outer covering of the cable and the insulation on the conductors is so weak that it can be easily peeled off using finger nails only.




	To demonstrate why partially sleeved earth pins are so dangerous we stripped away all of the parts of a socket except the earth contact. We were then able to take this picture (above) which shows that the earth contact only touches the insulated part of the pin (at the points indicated by red arrows).

Some counterfeit plugs have pins which are the wrong size, too short, too long, too thick and too thin. A lead bought from an ebay seller in May 2011 had a plug that was completely the wrong size and was fitted with a fuse which was so loose it rattled! That plug is shown in the photo above (on left) compared with a genuine BS 1363 plug (right). In addition, the fuse (which was itself counterfeit, and not compliant with BS 1362) was the wrong value for the lead type. HOWEVER it turns out that the line wire was connected directly to the pin, THE FUSE WAS NOT USED!!! An Amazon.co.uk seller also sells cables with this plug.


	Genuine fuses contain a filling of silica sand which acts to prevent arcing in the case of the fuse blowing. Counterfeit fuses are not filled in this way. This UK Government warning explains that counterfeit fuses can explode when they blow! Watch this video to see what happens to a counterfeit fuse when the cable connected to the plug is short circuited, ESC has published a similar video.


	The counterfeit plug (on left) was supplied with a charger purchased from Amazon.co.uk It is marked with a BSI kitemark and has illegal earth sleeving. It also has power pin sleeving which is too long. The moulding is of poor quality, and the strain relief has failed. It was fitted with a counterfeit fuse, which, unlike the plug above, was connected. The cable to which it was attached claims to be 3 core 0.75mm² (24x 0.2mm strands), but the strands are actually only 0.1mm. A genuine 3 core 0.75mm² cable is also shown for comparison.






		Three versions of another type of very dangerous plug. These plugs have no fuse at all! , All of these were available from various trade vendors on eBay.co.uk in March 2012. The plug in the centre was also available from Amazon.co.uk in March 2012. All of these plugs also have the pins placed illegally close to the periphery of the plug.

On the right is another counterfeit plug which was supplied with a charger purchased from Amazon. You can see an image of the Amazon listing on the Amazon sample page here.

The charger supplied is actually different from the one offered, and for that reason a different mains cable is also supplied. (The one pictured in the listing has a cloverleaf cable with a plug having an insulated earth pin).

Although this plug appears similar to the one illustrated above it does not have a partially insulated earth pin. However, it is still a counterfeit! (Therefore illegal.) Close inspection reveals that what appears to be a BSI Kitemark moulded into the plug is in fact not a Kitemark, the approval mark next to that claims that the plug is approved by STGS, a fictitious organisation. The cartridge fuse fitted to the plug claims to be a BS 1362 13A fuse, but is also counterfeit.

In 2008 the BBC “Watchdog” programme took Amazon to task for selling counterfeit and illegal goods. Interviewed in that programme was Brian McBride (then managing director at Amazon.co.uk) who stated: “we do not tolerate counterfeit products .. we take them down as soon as we find out about them”. Really? Only one of the counterfeits we have bought from Amazon has been recalled!!!
The BBC page originally linked above is no longer active, so the link is now to an archived version of that page (without the original video).
Some of the illegal products which Amazon assured the BBC would be removed continued to be on sale for several years! Here is an example of a captured page from Amazon offering CS Spray (April 2012) .
Click here for further information on Amazon.co.uk listings for products which include illegal plugs and adaptors.

Click here for a gallery of sample ebay.co.uk listings for products which include illegal plugs, these are amongst the more than ONE THOUSAND listings which ebay has removed since this campaign started in August 2011. The listings removed included over 140 of the completely illegal plug without a fuse! See samples of the deleted listings)

Although we wish eBay would prevent illegal plugs ever being offered for sale on their website we would like to acknowledge that, unlike Amazon, eBay take prompt action when informed of illegal listings by Trading Standards Departments. However, we have had absolutely no success in reporting illegal listings directly. eBay do provide a report button on every listing, but take no action when a product is reported via that method!

Read a report on the problem of plugs with sleeved pins by Bob Austen of Pattestingman.

View a video made by Whites Electrical Portable Appliance Testing illustrating the problem of plugs with sleeved pins.

Loophole in BS 1363

There is a problem in BS 1363 which allows extension sockets to be manufactured with the earth hole placed too close to the edge. Most multi-way portable socket outlets exploit this loophole and permit the insertion of an inverted plug into the earth pin only, thus opening the shutters of the current carrying contacts. This is a clear danger as can be seen from these photos.

It is to be hoped that this oversight will be corrected at the next revision of BS 1363. Until then it is important to ensure that children are not allowed access to this type of extension.


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