socket position

[ed75]

Hi, can anyone tell me how high off ground floor my sockets must be and also if they must be certain distance from any corners.At moment ground floor are approx 450mm from floor, am i allowed to lower them and if so how much.The sockets in question are in living & dining room.
Any advice greatly appreciated,
Ed.

 

[JohnD]

450mm is the current standard. They are unlikely to be damaged by furniture, boots and hoovers, and are reasonably accessible, not just to the disabled, but to pregnant women, fat people, those with tired backs and creaky knees and anyone who doesn't like bending down.

Since it is the current standard, people are getting used to it and now think that lower sockets look weird.

How old is your house, and why do you want to move them?

 

[davy_owen_88]

On new builds/renovations etc the minimum height for socket outlets/switches is 450mm, and the maximum height is 1200mm.

The general rule of thumb is that you can not make them any less accessible, so in your case you shouldn't lower them atall.

I am not aware of any regulations regarding the placement of socket outlet from corners within dwellings. 350mm from room corners is mentioned but that is for non-dwellings, although that is a good standard to go by.

 

[ed75]

Cheers guys, just a matter of personal preferance,think they look tidier lower down but if regs state 450mm i guess they must stay there. However this might have already caused me a problem,- upstairs sockets used to be tight above 100mm skirting so when adding to the circuit i raised them 100mm or so, so they are now approx 200mm from floorboards, will these have to be 450mm aswell?
Thanks again,
Ed.

 

[JohnD]

If it's an old house, you are not obliged to bring it up to current standards. However it is not good to have sockets in the skirting as they get damaged.

If you sell or rent the house, or apply for any housing renovation grants, the low sockets may be a problem.