Many of my sites have got washing machines in front of a CSU in an electrical cupboard on a new build site due to space, I have had our sub-contractors move the CSU where practicable, the reasons being as per BS7671 and NHBC are accessibility and maintenance, my reasonings are:

                      1: If a circuit breaker pops and the owner is vertically challenged, in a wheel chair or with a bad back then they cannot reach over the washing machine to reset the breaker.

                      2: If the whole board trips and the washing is in its wash cycle then the washing machine cannot be removed, not without great difficulty.

                      3: If the incoming water connection gets damaged, then water can spray all over the CSU.

                      4: As for maintenance, the 5 year Test and Inspection will require the washing machine moving to carry out the periodic , again BS7671 where an electrical service is to be installed in the proximity of one or more non-electrical services it shall be arranged so  that any foreseeable operation carried out on the other service will not cause damage to the electrical services or the converse.

     The problem is all our standards are open to interpretation, until someone gets killed, and also with the amount of space in electrical cupboards due to smaller areas in apartments, it has got to the stage that I feel we have to compromise on our British Standards.