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Consumer Unit proximity to combustible material

Apostolos

Good afternoon

We are looking into installing a metal consumer unit within a wooden kitchen cupboard.

I was looking through BS7671 but cant find any reference as to how close can the CU be to a wooden surface since the wooden cupboard that would host the CU could be considered as a combustible.

Am I missing something?

Is there anything in BS7671 I have missed?

We are looking at the minimum dimensions that the kitchen cupboard needs to have in order to host the CU.

Thanks

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  • 0

    install the Consumer Unit (metal CU) above the kitchen in a locked dedicated cupboard.

    If it's high up - what's it like for access? Not just for staff resetting MCBs/RCDs but general maintenance - repairs and periodic inspections? BS 7671 has requirements for accessibility (e.g. 132.12) as do more general H&S stuff. Would staff need a ladder to reach? (working at height) or would it involve leaning over from the top of a ladder (because you can't get the ladder closer than the width of the worksurface underneath)?

       - Andy.

  • 0 in reply to AJJewsbury

    I have seen DBs placed in questionable positions in a lot of apartments / houses in the UK. I think the BS7671 regulations need to give a more definite answers to aid safety of occupants & ease maintenance. 

    Placing a CU high away in a kitchen cupboard is just one of the many cases. As an electrical design engineer, I believe a proper review of the apartment would help identify better suitable locations. Look around for some dead space maybe behind the kitchen door.  I would suggest a mounting height of about 1.8Mtrs AFFL to top  frame. A recessed enclosure with locks would be a good fit.

  • 0 in reply to OLAITAN SOFOLA

    I think the BS7671 regulations need to give a more definite answers to aid safety of occupants & ease maintenance. 

    BS 7671 gives general requirements. Building regulations (part M) at least give specific ways of achieving accessibility - e.g. for dwellings (in England) CUs should be mounted "so that the switches are 1350-1450mm above floor level" https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f8a82ed915d74e622b17b/BR_PDF_AD_M1_2015_with_2016_amendments_V3.pdf (although that may or may not apply where the residents aren't intended to have access - e.g. hotel situations).

    The problem isn't lack of regulation, the problem is lack of common sense by those meant to apply them.

       - Andy.

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