This is my current situation...but what are the regulations and where do I find them? My current cooker socket has a 13amp plug incorporated within it but I'm quite happy to sacrifice this if it will make the situation safer.
Problem is, moving the cooker socket is going to take a sparky (not me!) about 2hours minimum to chase out a new cavern in the wall, recable and refit etc. The cooker is electric if this is any help.
Cooker circuits in household or similar premises (excerpt)
...The control switch or cooker control unit should be placed within two metres of the appliance, but not directly above it...
This is the only specific mention I can see in either the OSG or the regulations. The only other requirement is for the cable and its protective device to be correctly sized.
As for moving the cooker control unit, do you know which way the cable from the unit runs? If so it may be a relatively simple matter to move the unit "back" along the cable a bit until it is just outside the area directly above the cooker. Even if the cable goes straight up it may be possible to move the control unit up and across slightly, though you must still be able to reach it!
Regarding the rest of the circuit, as a rule the protective device is 30 or
32A for an electric cooker though if you really need to, you can probably get away with less by applying diversity after Table 1A in the On Site Guide, p85. 6mm cable will carry 32A over 35m or so before voltage drop becomes a problem so that is the size cable commonly used. Higher currents or greater distances call for 10mm cable but these are unusual.
What's a "Minor Works Certificate"? I personally can't understand the need for any certificate about moving a switch when coming to sell a house... unless of course, you have fully up-to-spec wiring in the house, and need the certificate to prove continued compliance. However, I suspect that the majority of people don't have 100% in spec wiring, haven't had their wiring checked in 10 years and therefore someone may still want a wiring check to be done when buying and having a piece of paper saying the switch was moved in properly is not going to be terribly useful.
Well, it's free and hints that the electrician knows what he is doing, rather than is about to appear on Rogue Traders. To fill the certificate in properly, you have to do some basic safety checks, for example.
When present when selling the house it indicates that you took a cautious attitude to electrical work, which may swing the deal if the people buying include a panically paranoid type, of which there are many in the housing market.
I can't see that it is specifically prohibited, but it is very silly for the same reasons a cooker control point above the cooker is silly: reaching across a possibly hot cooker / steaming cooking to switch things off, and the risk of flex trailing too near something hot.
What consitutes a crimped connection that does not require access? I have a double socket that must be removed before I install a floor-to-ceiling housing for my ovens. I intend to lose the junction in the wall cavity but once the housing is installed it will not be accessible. I had considered soldering the junction.
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