Damsel in Distress! Elec sockets under sink?

[TeaFan]

Hi all,

I’m having a new kitchen fitted, and the plumber-electrician supplied by my building company came last week for second fix incl installation of all kitchen appliances.
He’s placed a lot of switches in the cupboard under the sink, directly next to the plumbing (see photo).
Is this normal? - I’m not too worried about living with it myself, but worried that when I sell or rent the property in a few years time it might be pegged as a hazard in a survey or something and I’ll have to spend money on having them all moved .
Advice appreciated!

 

[Higgy28]

It's normal and nothing to worry about

 

[JohnD]

(Sigh)

It's rather common. And not illegal.

Only a person who has never had a sink overflow, or seen a plumbing leak, or wanted to reach a switch in a hurry, would do that from choice.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

As above- normal, legit, nothing to worry about. It'll be irritating if you wanted to plumb a washing machine into that waste as well though

But annoying. Most of us use that space under the sink for something- usually storing cleaning gear- that'll get in the way if you need access to those switches.

The Lego pipework under there tells me whoever did it isn't a plumber.

While you're in there you might want to set that iso valve on the left to full, worth checking the other one as well

 

[TeaFan]

Thank you - what is an ISO valve and how do I set it to full?!
I THINK it might be that little valve on the silver piece leading up to the tap - do you mean using a flat head screwdriver to make it turn so that it’s pointing completely vertical?
Thanks

 

[terryplumb]

The waste water hose from the appliance ,on the left, needs to enter the trap spigot from above. As it is now ,the spigot is pointing downward into the hose ,and it's likely that waste water will back flow towards the appliance.

 

[ericmark]

You can get what we call grid switches marked with what they supply this one for dish washer for example and fit them above counter all together which can include fuses, but it is personal taste, some people don't want the wall covered with switches, the only switch you may want in a hurry is the washing machine, if the weights get loose, and the machine does not auto switch off, it can do a lot of damage before you can get to the isolator, although today most have sensors so auto switch off, as for rest, it may require fuses, as no plug and socket, but as to switches, if like my kitchen, one would never get to them in a hurry under the sink as full of stuff which would need clearing first, so a bit pointless.

However safe enough, if water does get to them, burst pipe for example, the RCD will just trip, no harm done to electrics.

 

[ebee]

personally i dont like things like sockets and switches in cupboards for various reasons but i must admit it is common practice and folk often dont like to see them above worktops (which to me is the best place purely for operational reasons). the leaking sink scenario is probably not much more risky than having a bathroom/WC above a kitchen etc and we never baulk at that.












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[EFLImpudence]

I'm afraid you will have to move the sink and pipes.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Thank you - what is an ISO valve and how do I set it to full?!
I THINK it might be that little valve on the silver piece leading up to the tap - do you mean using a flat head screwdriver to make it turn so that it’s pointing completely vertical?
Thanks

Yeah that's the one.