my housing association currently doing modernisations and
in some houses where a full rewire are required in the
kitchens in particular they are channelling the wires in the
wall behind cupboards but not plastering them up ,is there
some regulation on this type of thing thanks
If the cupboards are permanently secured to the walls or floors and are fully covering the cables to prevent damage, even from objects being placed into them, then I don't see any problems with the idea. If the cables are exposed and could be damaged, then I'd say it was a dangerous practce to follow.
Wiring in general is covered by the IEE Wiring Regulations (also known as BS7671).
At the moment this is not statutory, but effectively will be so from next April.
There is no particular reason why cables should be plastered over, but they should be protected from damage, which in effect the cupboards will do.
One thing that is very important is the routing of the cables in areas where they are not protected in this way but just buried in plaster. Either they must be buried at least 50mm below the surface (which plastering won't do) or run in specific directions.
It is allowed to run cabled vertically or horizontally from a wiring accessory (i.e. a socket or switch). For example, you can wire horizontally between two sockets along a wall. You can also run cables vertically in an area up to 150mm from the corner of a wall and in an area up to 150mm down from the top of a wall. You can't run them in the space 150mm up from the floor, however.
Make sure that they give you some kind of inspection certificate, or ask the housing association for one.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
Generally speaking, it would be more compliant to leave them unplastered. If they are plastered over, it is necessary to either provide mechanical protection (such as metal conduit) or route them in specific zones related to the wall and visible accessories.
Plastering over of cables is done primarily for aesthetic reasons. When the cable won't be visible, it is safer and more versatile to leave them on the surface. If surface mounted cables are in a position likely to be subject to mechnical stress, they should be mounted in conduit too. However, you are far more likely to bury in these situations, as the cable will be visible almost by definition.
Christian.
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