How far away should a wall socket be from the kitchen sink. Just watched a program on the TV were the guy renovated a kitchen and fitted the mains outlet above the kitchen sink.
Seemed a bit dodgy to me but he was a professional kitchen fitter
Sam
However it seems to me that in may modern houses the kitchens are so small that all of the sockets are within touching distance of the sink
Tony
A minimum of 300 mm clearance, measured horizontally along the wall, is recommended. It's not a hard and fast regulation, but is well-established now and anyone inspecting for Part P is likely to reject anything much less than that.
But not a professional electrician...
300 mm is a bit close IMO, I don't know of anything that needs to be plugged in within such a short distance of a sink.
I've see it several times a week in NHS hospitals. At on site a PC on a trolley with CRT monitor and a bar code reader was pulled up right next door to a handwash basin.
DG
It always seems very odd to me that the regulations can be anal to the point of absurdity in some respects, but something which even to the layman looks dodgy is perfectly within them.
A friend of mine was made by a BCO to take off all his light switches and sockets, undo all the cables and put grommets in the metal back- boxes, an operation which is far more likely to cause damage to the cables than leaving cables (which would otherwise never move) in ungrommeted holes. However, it looks like he could have a socket by his sink getting sprayed with water with impunity!
A 1930s electric shaving mug, perhaps?
Owain
Oh that's a bit silly. There's no specific regulation in BS 7671 that requires grommets, so in that case, provided that the cables have been installed without damage, it would have been better to leave well alone, IMHO. Mind you, the lack of grommets (established good practice for at least 40 years) does send out a clear message about the likely competence of the installer and ought to lead to a general tightening of the inspection regime.
I've got one double socket closer than 300 mm (here when I came) and it's never been any problem.
Going back the other way though they have been somewhat over-cautions about allowing 13 A sockets in bathrooms. They're now allowed, but must be at least 3 metres from the bath or shower tray.
IIRC the Regs require Good Workmanship.
Owain
Yes, and proper materials - you have a point, I suppose. The 17th edition is more stringent and requires good workmanship by competent persons, or persons under competent supervision [134.1.1].
And if they go on to define competent in terms of exam passes, that'll be another nail in the coffin of DIY wiring.
Owain
Without defining "competent"?
It sounds more like CORGI every day.
That statue of Michael Faraday at Savoy Place crumbles.
Where is Collister Jones when we need him? A R Owens would have had them for lunch.
Better to leave that for the courts to interpret, I think.
Ooh I don't know, he looked quite shiny last time I was there, a few months ago. And the elegant carved lettering across the front of the building still says "The Institution of Electrical Engineers" - none of this silly engineering and technology nonsense...
Now there's a thought. Alwyn still seems to be around:
Err, yes, that was the only point - electricians felt they were hard done when compared with gas fitters, as the latter had CORGI to corall customers to them and they didn't. Hence the lobbying, hence Part P and the emergence of the mythical "Competent Person", who has nothing to do with persons who are competent.
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