Electrical safety requirements in a rental property

The cooker switch seems very strange to me. Having the switch relatively inaccessible under the counter seems a retrograde step.

Ideally it should, I suppose, be to one side of the hob (assuming that's what it's above at the moment) but given the size of some kitchens nowadays there has to be a bit of compromise.

I believe there are regulations/recommendations about not placing the switch above a hob and about how far it has to be away at the side of a hob. Friends had this problem when replacing a "standard" oven with top plate burners with a monster double width beast requiring anyone operating the existing switch to lean over the hob which is also a no-no.

I've confirmed with the agents that these have all been marked as C2. Apparently they have been getting loads of such queries since the new regs came in, and there seems to be a lack of clarity about exactly what deficiencies constitute a C2 so it's possible that a different contractor could interpret some of them as C3. The agents are asking for a second opinion. The cooker switch is a particular problem as moving it would probably involve quite a lot of making good as well.

I've confirmed with the agents that these have all been marked as C2. Apparently they have been getting loads of such queries since the new regs came in, and there seems to be a lack of clarity about exactly what deficiencies constitute a C2 so it's possible that a different contractor could interpret some of them as C3. The agents are asking for a second opinion. The cooker switch is a particular problem in this case as moving it would probably involve quite a lot of making good as well.

If the hob isolator is directly above the hob, i doubt that any competent electrician would classify it as c3.

Is that really a requirement of a safety check, surely the bulbs that you put in a socket is a user issue. If they are of a standard type (which IIRC R80 is, they can easily be replace with LED bulls of the same fitting - a pound each at a the um, pound shop, if there really is a law requiring such bulbs.

OK, give him that one (as long as it really is substandard)

AIUI the requirement is that it should be remote from the cooker by some (unknown to me) distance.

Under countertop seems a bit obscure

There isn't even an under counted top space in my kitchen to put one - every space under counter top has a cupboard/appliance in it. and in a small kitchen who the flip would design it otherwise?

get that guy back in again then

using the one contacted by the MA just leaves LLs open to all the normal kick-back scams.

lesson learned. Never ever use their "man" again.

tim

So you can turn the power off under a chip pan fire without getting burnt, is that the idea?

There's long been guidance in the OSG that it's a "bad thing" to fit a cooker unit directly above a cooker. But I've never been clear if that's:

'cos of chip fires (an emergency for which I'd recommend using the consumer unit anyway)

'cos of the heat/steam/smoke from cooking

'cos a lot of them have a socket and there's the risk of flex across the hob

let alone on the basis of which reg(s).

With luck Adam will tell us what he codes them - and whether the less savoury end of the market does the same.

Well the OSG says the switch "SHOULD not be above the cooker" and not "MUST not be above the cooker".

Probably C3 unless really low down and showing signs of heat damage, but a C2 if it has a socket.

Any reason it cannot be blanked off?

Switches in a cupboard (to the front of the cupboard) are acceptable.

The swapping of the spot lights seems absurd. I would be asking the electrician for a reg for that one.

Bonding regs have not altered in the last 5 years so I have no idea why it passed last time and not this time.

See my other posts.

BTW You are not obliged to use him for the remedial works.

I guess you need to ask to see the actual bit of the regs that state that existing installations unless changed recently need to be adhered to as a new installation might. I don't like those spotlights, apparently they have been known to set curtains alight, but I bet you will tell us they are nowhere near a curtain!

Brian

Trouble is to turn mine off I need to get on my knees, if I were a little less fit, I'd never get up again. Brian

Here's a sort of summary

Oh dear, mine, installed only a year ago, are at 200

Thanks for that.

Had an EICR and they flagged that spotlights weren't fire safe - since they allow access for fire into the roof cavity around the bulb. Can't remember what level that was, I assume C3.

Maybe that's what they're getting at here? A GU10 might be an enclosed fitting where an R80 isn't. Maybe that would be C2 if there was a habitable room above (eg another flat)?

I've replaced with LED downlights anyway so that niggle is ticked off. (I hated the original spots anyway)

Theo

That was one of my thoughts.

But the replacements for R80's are usually something like this (R80 spots usually have big cut outs)

I've finally seen the report - 3 items as C2. It seems that the electrician couldn't see any bonding to the pipework (I bet there is somewhere, but couldn't say where. As far as I know the 17th edition regs required this, and there wasn't anything mentioned 5 years ago); the electrician's words about the lights are "lighting connection behind downlights downstairs are in connectors [sic]". No idea what he meant by this - choc blocks, perhaps (but new fittings also use these)? Perhaps they are loose? There are only two bedrooms upstairs, not even a bathroom, so fire rated lights would be recommended but as far as I know not mandatory. Finally "Cooker switch in wrong position". If I remember correctly the switch is well above the hob, doesn't have a socket and shows no sign of heat damage after over 30 years there. He also mentioned the 17th edition consumer unit as C3.

That is interesting reading and makes some very good points.

Thanks for posting the link.

Delighted that he said "average abode".

"Some would say that a cooker switch is unnecessary in the home because the circuit can be isolated from the consumer unit which, although not usually within two metres of the cooker, is still close by in your average abode."

It's 60m from the CU to the cooker in the 3 bed bungalow I am rewiring. Probably the weirdest abode I have worked in.