Access to cooker outlet plate

[DJM]

Due to our chosen electrician letting us down (suddenly too busy to be botherd with a CU replacement and re-wire 2 days before he's supposed to start ), we are in the procees of getting a new one in pdq.
Chap today said he could probably fit us in, but to save time (and possibly money) he suggested I fit boxes and conduit ready for them to run cable. That suits me, but need to confirm what regs are for access to cooker outlet plates.

Having 2 ovens and a hob in new kitchen and 3 radials being added in new CU. so run will be CU to DP, then DP to cooker outlet plate. Whilst it would be sensible to have easy access to outlets, can they be behind the built in ovens, or do they need to be able to be accessed via, perhaps adjoining cupboard.

Also, as there are 3,I don't really want to pur 3 outlete vertically as that will affect teh integrity of that part of the wall, so can i stagger them

 

[DJM]

got to start the work tomorrow, so would be grateful for any replies

 

[Taylortwocities]

Electricians, eh?

The connection plate can be behind the oven, mostly that is where they are.

If you have a socket to plug and appliance in then this should be accessible.

Dont worry about wall integrity, you would have to knock a very large hole in a wall before you weaken it, the bricks have a triangular locking feature that give more support than you'd expect. in any case, you are not going right thru the wall, only 35mm, or so.

Dont forget that all cables must be run in safe zones. See wiki for more info.

 

[JohnD]

the switches must be accessible and visible and obvious what they are for, so anyone can identify them and switch off in an emergency.
A hob switch should not be directly above the hob (where access might be obstructed by smoke and flame e.g. in a fat fire) but to one side (say 300mm) but no more than a metre.

the outlets can be behind the appliance

it is quite neat to run all the switches and sockets at 200mm above worktop height in a row You can have plenty of sockets here, as well as switches for undercounter appliance socket outlets such as fridges, and also an FCU for the cooker hood flex outlet above. All cables must be chased in horizontally or vertically between boxes (no diagonals or curves). Use oval plastic conduit. You can retain this with a large cable clip (16mm T&E size, I think it is) until it is plastered over.

If you run the sockets and switches horizontally above the worktop you can run the chases for the cables horizontally between them. This is economical on labour and materials. You can run it all round the kitchen like that if you want (apart from doorways).

Have a cooker switch without socket (then it won't need an RCD)

 

[DJM]

Thanks,
no sockets, all three will be radials on their own DPs - 1 off 45 amp, 2 off 32 amp.
As for the wall, it's a single brick construction and as 10mm2 cable will need a 47mm box, and electrician has suggested the 4mm cable would be easier to fit in 47mm boxes, if I had to position them behind cupboard rather than oven, that would be 3 off 47mm boxes in a row.
But if I can fit behind ovens, that solves problem.

Cable will be in truncking (except where it is in conduit buried in wall to enter boxes) and will all be horizontal or vertical and behind cabinets.

 

[DJM]

A hob switch should not be directly above the hob (where access might be obstructed by smoke and flame e.g. in a fat fire) but to one side (say 300mm) but no more than a metre.

I thought it was 2 metres max?

the outlets can be behind the appliance

thanks makes my life easier

it is quite neat to run all the switches and sockets at 200mm above worktop height in a row You can have plenty of sockets here, as well as switches for undercounter appliance socket outlets such as fridges, and also an FCU for the cooker hood flex outlet above. All cables must be chased in horizontally or vertically between boxes (no diagonals or curves). Use oval plastic conduit. You can retain this with a large cable clip (16mm T&E size, I think it is) until it is plastered over.

ring already runs mostly around kitchen with fcus for hood and dishwasher, only the new hob and ovens to be added.

Have a cooker switch without socket (then it won't need an RCD)

Just to please you JohnD, I have changed my CU requirements from split-load to RCBOs so I could just put the hob on a cooker switch with socket and still be OK.

Actually might need to go for a cooker switch with socket as insufficient space to put a tall 45A switch and so has to be square single or standard two gang box. As the hob will require 10mm, the cooker switch with socket may provide more space for the cable.

 

[JohnD]

cookers and ovens often cause nuisance tripping of RCDs and even RCBOs hence better with no socket

 

[mdbalson]

you can get 45a DP switches, which are 1 Gang or 2 Gang in size