Electrical safety requirements in a rental property

Well the cooker is the furthest point from the CU. It's an odd building.

Some safety-conscious people might want to switch the cooker off when it's not being used, which is much easier with a switch next to the cooker. The CU may be in a dark cupboard full of spiders, and the wrong circuit might be switched off.

Some thermostats and simmerstats might not switch off reliably.

(I don't switch my cooker off as the hob has lights that show that the elements are still above 60C and the oven has a cooling fan that stays on until the whole thing has cooled down enough.)

I expect the CU is outside somewhere, it's not unknown. We have two CUs and one is in the garage a good 30 metres from the house (but it does only control outdoor/garage circuits). The incomer, company fuse, meter and so on are in the garage too.

More likely not in enclosures.

Owain

Probably because the terminals are accessible and cable doesn't have the outer insulation sheaf where it meets the connectors. It should be sufficient to put the connectors in a suitable enclosure clamping the outer sheaf.

In article <rm8se0$574$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, tim... snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com writes

Mines on top of a wall cupboard, but not above the hob.

and have to reset the clock every time

no thanks

I had one of these checks when I wanted to upgrade some electrical circuits in a (not rented) house

the tester said

you need to add earth bonding

I said "it's plastic pipework, what are you going to do"

I got no reply.

I honestly don't know if there is a right answer.

If it is the water that is not bonded then it's probably boxed in. The EICR requires you to verify the continuity and connections. It can be a tough one when you can see the clamp behind the kitchen unit but cannot access it etc.

Sounds like choc boxes "might" solve the lights problem.

The cooker switch is his personal recommendation. There is not much you can do about it. I did suggest blanking it off. That should not be expensive or messy.

Here's an update:

I thought the quote looked a bit high - for comparison, in our own house a couple of years ago we had an old fuse board replaced with a new 18th edition consumer unit, a new circuit installed for a shed about 20 metres away using armoured cable and a small CU in the shed, earth bonding added to 18th edition standards and an inspection and test report done, all for about the same price. Anyway, I asked the agents for a second quote and (surprise surprise) it was nearly half the price, including another test report. This quote was properly itemised and the prices look reasonable, so I gave them the go-ahead for the work. Replacing the recessed R80 ceiling spotlights with fire rated GU10 units and an adapter would be a prudent move anyway, even if fire rated units aren't strictly needed. The second quote was for blanking off the cooker switch and putting it in the cupboard, and the price was reasonable, so in the end I thought it wasn't worth quibbling over.

Many thanks for all the advice :)

David.

Here's an update:

I thought the quote looked a bit high - for comparison, in our own house a couple of years ago we had an old fuse board replaced with a new 18th edition consumer unit, a new circuit installed for a shed about 20 metres away using armoured cable and a small CU in the shed, earth bonding added to 18th edition standards and an inspection and test report done, all for about the same price. Anyway, I asked the agents for a second quote and (surprise surprise) it was nearly half the price, including another test report. This quote was properly itemised and the prices look reasonable, so I gave them the go-ahead for the work. Replacing the recessed R80 ceiling spotlights with fire rated GU10 units and an adapter would be a prudent move anyway, even if fire rated units aren't strictly needed. The second quote was for blanking off the cooker switch and putting it in the cupboard, and the price was reasonable, so in the end I thought it wasn't worth quibbling over.

Many thanks for all the advice :)

David.

Am I missing something, but surely you want to be able to get to the switch if the cooker malfunctions (or does the fuse and RCD take care of this?).

I don't like them either. We used to have them and they lasted about two weeks. Some question the colour rendition properties of LED but to my mind the low energy consumption reduction in heat output make it all worthwhile. My bedside lamp - used for reading - is still halogen, but I think it's the only one.

I did say put the switch to the front of the cupboard to make it accessible.

I hate spots, full stop

bloody stupid way to light a room - creating random dark and light patches

Would our tenants know about this in an emergency? Surely the switch needs to be visible?

Not to mention the length/cost of 10mm T&E

Depends on the quality of tenant.

I did a load of social housing new builds in Scunthorpe last year.

One of them complained the bathroom light did not work.

It never occurred to them to try the light switch on the wall outside the bathroom door. They had tried the shower pull switch that was behind the bathroom door a couple of times.

There is no reg that says a cooker switch should be visible.