service accessories

[fubar]

Hi,

Part M of the building regulations specified the permitted height for accessories in new dwellings and extensions to dwellings.

Part P goes further by stating that the consumer unit should be accessible and be fitted with a child-proof cover or installed in a lockable cupboard.

So, two questions:
First, what consumer units do you recommend on the basis of the design of their child-proof cover while still being a good consumer unit from an electricans point of view?

Second, is anyone installing things like fan isolators at accessible heights and do you do anything to discourage fingers? I've always though of them from a maintenance viewpoint, but owners sometimes have valid reasons to use them, too.

 

[Damocles]

Does anyone make a consumer unit with a childproof cover? I can see lots of angry consumers bashing at their child and adult proof CU to open it because something tripped.

Ah I remember the good old days when guns were only required to be kept in a lockable cupboard. The only day the cupboard under the stairs was locked or even closed was the day someone came to inspect. My grandfather used to keep his in the loo. Something for visitors to play with while they were using the facilities.

 

[AdamW]

The new regs on height of accessories are stupid. 5 feet is a perfectly good height for light switches. Pretty much everyone in the UK has them at near enough 5 feet. Anyone who can't reach a 5-foot lightswitch is going to need some pretty hefty mods done to the rest of their house anyway. The regs state that all accessories have to be between 450mm and 1200mm from the ground. I wouldn't describe myself as "leggy" or "gazelle-like", but the tops of my hip-bones at the sides of my legs, which I have taken to be my waist, are at 1150mm when I am in bare feet. So the regs now mean that new-build lightswitches can't be much (if any) higher than my waist height... Why not allow us to keep on having sensibly-elevated switches and lower them for those who need it?

Sorry about the rant! Purely from a logic point of view, I would think that as a fan isolator is there to allow someone to isolate it possibly in an emergency, it needs to be accessible. So an inspector may take the same view.

How does this work for high-level FCUs e.g. bathroom quartzheaters and kitchen cooker hoods? I guess you now have to install a flex outlet at high-level, with an FCU at 450-1200mm to allow switching and fuse-replacement.

 

[Damocles]

And my great grandfather used to keep his hanging over the fireplace.

Dont know if he had lightswitches.

 

[securespark]

Something for visitors to play with while they were using the facilities.

I have something MUCH better than a firearm.......