Surely This Is Rubbish!!

[John]

I have an elderly relative that is having a kitchen refit done at the moment. As part of the job she wants to be able to turn her kitchen lights off ( and on ) from outside her bedroom door and also at the side of her main entrance door. She lives in a bungalow by the way. The kitchen guys have told her it is now against regulations to have two switches in the same room controlling the same lights!!! Is this correct, as I think the guy(s) is talking b******s so he doesn't have to rewire it in either 3 core and earth or do it via a junction box in the loft, which is very well boarded out and it would be quite a job to lift them to get to the wiring. If it is correct my living room, kitchen, dining room and hallway are all against regulation now!

Any comments greatly appreciated as the guys are back on site on Monday.

Cheers

John

[BigWallop]

Has this work been accepted in her original contract with the fitters, or it is extra work she wants done? If it has already been accepted on her original contract, then I can't see the fitters trying to fob her off with excuses. If, on the other hand, this is extra work she wants added to the existing contract, has she mentioned the extra money she is willing to pay for the work to be done?

I know of no new regulations that say lighting has to be controlled other than with correctly installed and appropriate switchgear used, but with new wiring configurations, not to my knowledge.

[Palindrome]

"talking b******s"

[Palindrome]

What the kitchen guys are probably aiming at is doing the work themselves, under:

"Minor work that comprises only the replacement of accessories, such as socket outlets, control switches and ceiling roses, is never notifiable, even in a kitchen or ?special installation or location?."

However, once they modify the circuit, by putting in two switch points, it will come under Part P and will need "to be notified to a building control body in advance of the work starting", plus need approval, certification, inspection et al - ie will need to be done by an electrician.

[ARWadsworth]

I can see them trying that if they have just found out the loft is boarded

If, on the other hand, this is extra work she wants added to the

I see that so often

You can have as many light switches as you want in one room to control the the light in that room, until you run out of wall space for the switches.

Adam

[Lurch]

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:11:56 GMT, Palindrome mused:

Yep.

[Owain]

But they don't need to go anywhere near the loft - by far the easiest way of adding multiway switching to an ordinarily-wired light switch is to start from the existing switch (or one of the existing switches if already two-way), and extend the 3 wires and earth through the desired number of intermediates to the end two-way switch.

Could probably be done easily enough in minitrunking at cornice level.

Prat Pee may be the issue though.

Owain

[Grunff]

You're quite correct, it's complete rubbish. You can have as many switches as you want controlling the same lights.

[the_constructor]

The man is talking a load of old tosh. Perobably telling her that so he doesn't have extra work to do

[Andy Hall]

But if they are already doing wiring in a kitchen, this shouldn't be a factor. EIther they are playing by the rules, in which case no issue, or they are not, in which case, still no issue....

[Dave Fawthrop]

|!> Any comments greatly appreciated as the guys are back on site on Monday. |!>

|!> Cheers |!>

|!> John |!>

|! |!The man is talking a load of old tosh. Perobably telling her that so he |!doesn't have extra work to do

Say "how much extra will that cost", and they will bite your hand off.

[auctions]

If they really don't want to do it, the main switch can be replaced with a remote control receiver, and a wireless switch put in the new position - no wiring required.

do some that look like standard switches, so you'd never know!

A

[rivermersey]

Maybe they don't have the know how fit an Two way or intermediate switch?

[Clive Mitchell]

In message , rivermersey writes

That's the first thing that went through my mind. It's amazing how many "electricians" don't understand two way switching.