Electrical Questions (hopes PigletJohn is around)

[yayayayaya]

We are having a rewire done on our 1930s ex council house in Scotland. The whole house needs refurbished so we’re doing this now rather than spending thousands on plastering and decorating only to need to do it in the future.

We plan to build and extension next year and I’m a bit confused about the regulations for socket and switch height in an extension. Do these need to meet current regulations or not? I understand a whole new house would but I’m unsure about an extension.

I think I’d rather have the heights all at current standard anyway so is that 450 for sockets and 1200 for switches? Can I have a light switch one a section of wall that’s about a foot wide? It’s the end section of a thick internal wall of that makes an sense.

Thanks in advance!

Bump

For a new build, yes, 450mm high for sockets and 1200mm high for switches.

For an extension, you can mount the sockets and switches at a height thatbisnin keeping with the original.house.

In some circumstances (but I'm not sure which circumstances), full refurbishments require compliance with current regs. However, you could argue you're just re-wiring for now. I'd imagine "full refurbishment" means fully back to brick shell and re-instate from there.

I'd say you have the choice of keeping as existing or changing socket heights to current regs.

450mm or higher for sockets, 1200mm or lower for lightswitches. But most people are happy with those heights

This is so they can be reached by people in wheelchairs, but they are also more suitable for anybody is is, or may one day become, pregnant, fat, old, or have a bad back or bad knees or hips.

In the kitchen, workroom or home office, it is much more convenient to have a row of sockets about 150-200mm above worktop height. This is easy and economical to install, and if run in conduit, makes it very easy to add more later with minimal chiselling. But no doubt you will have a double socket every 1metre or every 600mm, and will have the switches for your undercounter appliances, such as dishwashers, and your high-up ones, like cooker hoods, microwave, TV and undercabinet lighting, in the same row, so do that at the same time.

It is impossible to have too many sockets in a kitchen. It is very easy to have too few.

"Part M of the Building Regulations (section 8) does not actually specify the required position but does go on to suggest that in habitable rooms this will be achieved by mounting the switches etc. between 45cm and 1200mm above the floor level (see below). Unless the dwelling is specifically designed for a person with limited reach, these requirements do not apply in garages and kitchens. "