Hi all,
I'm planning the layout of my kitchen. Is there any hard and fast rule about how close sockets can be to the sink? I seem to remember that it's rather vague and discretionary. Can anyone give a refererence to the regs or the users' guide?
Many thanks,
Martin
30cm is the rule of thumb. Unless there has been a recent change, there is no specific reference in the regs. It is just on the general rule that equipment must be suitable for the location in which it is installed. i.e. an IPx5 socket could be placed right next to the sink and an IPx8 socket could be installed actually within the sink!
Christian.
No change, but the 300 mm guidance has now got official status in that it's included in an IEE publication, viz. the EGBR (Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations).
Thanks very much to you both, I'll plan it around that.
I do find it kind of odd considering how anal the regs are about having sockets in bathrooms. What if the toaster drops into the sink while I'm washing up?
Not much. You see you probably have clothes on. You probably aren't naked and wet. You probably aren't actually sitting in the sink.
Christian.
Now that made me laugh my ass off. (ROFLMAO but it sounds better in full)
Does anyone else find this ridiculously close ? Given a "typical" length of cable on a portable appliance (such as my mixer, which I clean by running it under the tap) why would I ever need a socket quite so close?
Whilst it is quite close, it is easy to propose really stringent regs from the comfort of a large kitchen. Some properties have such tiny kitchens that a 60cm requirement would actually preclude the use of electricity within the kitchen. There is no indication that 30cm doesn't give adequete protection in practice, even if it happens to make you personally uncomfortable.
Christian.
On 10 Jan 2006 07:49:07 -0800, "Martin Pentreath" wrote this (or the missive included this):
Finish your breakfast before doing the washing up and you should be OK
I used to be bathed in the sink when I was little. I was certainly naked, wet, and sitting in it.
Now I recall, we didn't own a toaster then, so it must have been OK ;-)
MBQ
The builder who I have in building the kitchen extension has just told me that his electrical engineer friend has told him that sockets have to be 1m away from the sink! (He said 1m if the circuit is RCD protected, 1.5m if not).
Does anyone recognise this, or is this just a chinese whispers problem?
It is complete bollocks. A 1.5m rule would make most kitchens impossible, not just some. The "rule" is 30cm and it isn't even a hard and fast one at that.
Christian.
I've seen a recently-installed kitchen area at a work premises with a twin socket on the wall 4" above the worktop and immediately behind the draining board. There was a fridge plugged into it, with the flex running through a small hole bored in the worktop. The staff had complained to the H&S people and been told it was all OK.
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