Safe zones totally ignored by BMBC (ie BarnsleyMBC)
The rewire was done 10 years ago and now they are doing some damp proofing work that shows the signed off Part P registered electrical installers work done 10 years ago.
This looks like a cooker socket and outlet. Is this really a zone 1 area? I suppose it could if it was adjacent to a shower or bath without a screen.
I thought cables were allowed in walls in a zone 2 area? Was the fused outlet connected to an "approve" shaver socket?
Was that before Part P?
I didn't think Adam was talking about bathroom zones, just using the terms to mean location (it's obviously a kitchen). I thought he was talking about the cable runs.
no, it came into force Jan 1st 2005 IIRC (certainly fairly soon after we moved to our current house)
Has the plaster recently been hacked-off for the damp-proofing?
If not, then isn't it surface mounted and hence not subject the running in the safe zones?
It shows the work done 10 years ago
I can see the distinctly diagonal cabling, but was wondering the significance of safe zones in a kitchen, unless the intention is for the occupier to go barefoot in the kitchen in a substantial puddle of water?
Thanks.
Nothing specific to a kitchen, just the permitted location of shallow buried cables without protection any room
BS 7671 uses the word "zone" for cables fitted in such "zones"
It's not about "zones" like bathroom zones, but about the places on the wall where a reasonable DIYer could expect cable to lie under the plaster & therefore should be extra-careful about drilling holes, putting up nails for pictures, &c.
You wouldn't sensibly put a nail in the wall above a light switch (to hang a picture, for example) without making some effort to find out what's under the plaster (it's possible that the cable to the switch goes down to the floor), but you could reasonably expect to be able to put a nail into the wall 150 mm diagonally upwards from it.
Aah - I see my error with confusing safe zones with other "zones"!
Many thanks, I wasn't aware of the rule where a wall depth is 100mm or less.
Perhaps you should report them to their self-certification body, probably NICEIC.
Owain
Should I also stick in the photos of the incorrect gas and water bonding when reporting them?
Yes.
And see if the local paper wants to do a story on [children|pensioner] at risk of [fire|electrocution] by slipshod council wiring. They're usually short of news at this time of year.
Owain
Wasn't it a diagonal cable behind a metal kitchen shelf unit that caused a death which ultimately led to Part P being inflicted upon us?
Peter
MPs daughters death
Possibly:
That worked out well then...
And these zones predate 2005 by a long way.
zone1 looks just about passable if its 6" from the edge of a fitting but not if its from the centre.
zone2 would have been safe if they had put some dummy plates on (which went when the plaster was stripped).
Of course they will be safe because of the RCD anyway, just a bit more likely to need repairing.
Perhaps the electrician thought there would be 2" of plaster? :-)
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