Question about Fuse Box in New Build

[barefoot87]

Hi There,

I'm in the process of buying a new build from Barratt Homes in North East England. Upon looking round the show home the fuse box was located half way up the wall inside the store cupboard under the stairs. However after looking around the plot we are interested in buying, the fuse box was in the downstairs toilet right above the toilet. I immediately asked about this, and was told that this was due to regulations and that the box needs to be accessible. OK i understand that, but why in the toilet? - Well according to them the regs have changed since the show home got built and this is the place where it goes. I've looked in to regs and can't see much stating about this, and guessing it's just more out of laziness on their part.

Would be great to get your thoughts.

 

[RISElectrical]

Could have at least put it high up at the top and in a little cupboard!

 

[Plonker 3]

Surely it is sited so time spent on the toilet wasn't costing the contractor if he was on price?

 

[barefoot87]

Exactly! I think it's laziness on their part and they are giving some regs about accessibility etc. I plan to box it up anyway but it's annoying. Anyone have any official word on this?

 

[micknew]

Seems like the electrician didn't know or care that the room was going to be the toilet.

 

[RISElectrical]

Bad design however How far is the sink away from the Consumer unit?

 

[Knobhead]

You could have at least gone for the all mod-cons version.

View attachment 12040

 

[Guest55]

my thoughts are that the builders and sparks responsible are both prats.

 

[DPhilpott]

Just why?

 

[telectrix]

at least you can reset the RCD/s whilst having a crap. but it's pathetic. probably designed by an architect.

 

[david john cook]

maybe the architects plan show it going there and the contractor couldnt be bothered to argue .

 

[telectrix]

well, as it's almost 100% that the cables all come from above, and also it's probably a studded wall, i'd rip it off and move it up to the ceiling.

 

[truckster]

There is a train of thought that C/Us should be accessible for the disabled, perhaps they were trying that. Tel, the tails will probabably come straght through the wall from the meter box so lifting it up will mean putting new tails in. You do have to admire some guys work!

Word of advice: Don't take a p*ss with a hard on!

 

[telectrix]

CU at ceiling height is readily accessible with a walking stick. all a disabled person needs to be able to do is reset MCB/RCD. anything else, there's mastercard (sorry, masterspark)

 

[Engineer54]

Agree with those above, this is an architects problem that should have been resolved as a very last resort on site!! Which only goes to show, that there must be Electrical Trainee site managers/agents out there too lol!!!

Let's be honest now, ...Who would in there right mind position the CU in that position in a new build house except an incompetent idiot!!

 

[SPARTYKUS]

There are several, conficting regs regarding CU's. between this, between that unless this and OH! of course there is also that, plus if in a flood plain then it can go in the loft

Common sense usually comes to play and didn't here that just looks silly.

 

[Plonker 3]

Unless the toilet was a after thought?

 

[telectrix]

boggars belief

 

[snowhead]

Q & A of the Day - Is this consumer unit in the right position? - Voltimum UK - Electrical Installation Products and Contracting

Found another reference to say in the building regs CU has to be at an accessable height.

 

[Top Cat]

Architects are Gods that must be obeyed at all times even if they have the common sense of a pheasant with learning difficulties!

 

[telectrix]

now we're insulting pheasants. which same bird was a chicken designed by an architect

 

[bugsy]

OH DEAR OH DEAR OH DEAR ,
Firstly your being fed ********, the cu has to be accessable ( for disabled persons ) but it does not have to go above the bog!
but at least if the rcd goes while your in there it's quite handy , there must be another more suitable position,
My thoughts are that the spark concerned thought this was a cupboard ( or polish - not unusual to find CU's in obscure places in Poland

 

[1shortcircuit]

It's been put their so young children can lock themselves in the toilet, play fishes with their hands in the toilet and then play with the nice new looking fiddly switches that Mummy and Daddy say they must stay away from!

An absolute retard designed/installed that and I would insist if considering purchasing the property that they address this situation or you'll go elsewhere.... Plenty more houses looking for a buyer

 

[hasel5]

This board looks ****ed to me lol

 

[yellowvanman]

I guess the toilet was the nearest room from where the meter box (on the outside) was.

 

[Jonny66]

Accessible for people in wheeler chairs???, dont think so, you couldn't get a wheel chair close enough to reach the CU as the toilets in the way.

 

[bugsy]

Its the BBC!

 

[ipf]

You could have at least gone for the all mod-cons version.

View attachment 12040

Handy for any supplies required eh!

 

[ipf]

Accessible for people in wheeler chairs???, dont think so, you couldn't get a wheel chair close enough to reach the CU as the toilets in the way.

I doubt you'd get a wheelchair through the door.

 

[diditrain]

You need to ensure that there is an emergency light in there in case the rcd trips while you are on the loo. Can`t remember the reg number at the moment

 

[sedgy34]

we do alot of newbuilds and question anything we notice unusual on our drawings, the height is down to the building regs at 1200 from the finished floor level and its accesible but it seems no one has questioned its above the loo. why dont you ask them to box it in and make some shelving out of it.

 

[PC Electrics]

New or rewired domestic and similar installations : Electrical Safety Council

see Q30:Q30. Are there any particular requirements relating to the mounting height or location of consumer units for electrical installations in new dwellings?

The provision of access to consumer units is not specifically covered by Building Regulations or BS 7671. However, consumer units need to be so located as to enable reasonable access by the users, including for the purpose of testing the RCDs at regular intervals, and in case of emergency.
BSI Draft for development DD 266: 2007 – Design of accessible housing: Lifetime homes – Code of practice, explains how, by following the principles of inclusive design, general needs housing can be made sufficiently flexible and convenient to meet the existing and changing needs of most households, and so give disabled and older people more choice over where they live.
Amongst other things, the code of practice recommends that meters and consumer units should be mounted 1200 mm to 1400 mm from the floor so that the readings and switches can be viewed by a person standing or sitting, and should be positioned to be accessible.

Regulation number(s)

• 132.12
• 341.1
• 513.1

Sorry.
However I agree that it could have been a little higher on the wall. I recently did a new build and the CU is in the office, about 6ft up. When I took my assessor there a few weeks ago he didn't bat an eyelid over the height. Personally I think CUs should be mounted within reach of average adults but out of reach of children, so about 6ft IMO. When i was an automotive engineer we used to design the height of an open tailgate to e within 95th centile reach - in other words within the reach of 95% of adults (so the shortest 5% can't reach). I forget the exact height this represents, but it is about 6ft. This business of putting CUs in positions like yours is PC nonsense IMO

 

[SPARTYKUS]

......unless its in an area liable to flooding! Hah! Then forget that reg

Just to qualify, i have rewired a house that was flood damaged higher than 1200mm.

 

[PC Electrics]

I doubt you'd get a wheelchair through the door.

ground floor doors are extra wide for this purpose.

 

[Des 56]

Building regs or no building regs,prat of an architiect or not,it surly is a doctored picture

If not,its incredible to think how many other pratts have "seen it", "knew of it" or installed it,it still got positioned in a place where the only missing witness was basic common sense

 

[needasparks]

The clue on this is in the OP. Barratt says it all.
No one questions the design from architects on barrett jobs or you dont get any more work for them as a contractor, so it all gets done as the drawing.
I suspect this won't be the only anomaly in the property to appear when checked over.

 

[sedgy34]

......unless its in an area liable to flooding! Hah! Then forget that reg

Just to qualify, i have rewired a house that was flood damaged higher than 1200mm.

1200/450 is only for newbuild building regs so dont discriminate disabled nothing to do with exhisting houses

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Sedgy34


Good point. Yes house. Did was existing.

 

[telectrix]

and how many CUs are fitted with those cheapo, nasty blanks in the cover over unused ways? any 4 year old child can flick a blank out and stick his/her fingers in , onto a live busbar. so why fix a CU where a 4 year old can reach it? political ineptness gone mad. cater for the small minority to the detriment of the majority.

 

[needasparks]

and how many CUs are fitted with those cheapo, nasty blanks in the cover over unused ways? any 4 year old child can flick a blank out and stick his/her fingers in , onto a live busbar. so why fix a CU where a 4 year old can reach it? political ineptness gone mad. cater for the small minority to the detriment of the majority.

Last board i changed had exactly that and was full of dog food from the young-un putting it through the hole and filled it up.
When i told the owner he said the dog died 8 yrs ago and his daughter was now 20 so must have been like it for years.
No one was more suprized than me when i took the cover off and a kilo of biscuits fell out.

 

[Des 56]

I think what needasparks is really trying to say is "that consumer unit really takes the biscuit pal"

 

[Spudnik]

CU at ceiling height is readily accessible with a walking stick. all a disabled person needs to be able to do is reset MCB/RCD. anything else, there's mastercard (sorry, masterspark)

So why do we have Part M in our remit now?

 

[PC Electrics]

and how many CUs are fitted with those cheapo, nasty blanks in the cover over unused ways? any 4 year old child can flick a blank out and stick his/her fingers in , onto a live busbar. so why fix a CU where a 4 year old can reach it? political ineptness gone mad. cater for the small minority to the detriment of the majority.

Another reason why I like Hager boards with proper blanks that fit to the din rail and mimic the shape of MCBs and cannot be pulled out.

 

[sedgy34]

they should all put on the lid a latch to lock off for safety (hey thats my idea not any of yours)

 

[Dannyspark]

The height of the CU in new builds has nothing to do with being PC, it is entirely down to cost implications for the local authority. People with disabilities have access to all manner of government funded grants and many of the costs involved in converting houses to disabled use have to be met by the government or specifically the local authority. By implementing the positioning of CU's at 1200mm the government have ensured that every new house in the country has a CU that is accessible to all meaning that the cost of moving CU's for disabled access will eventually be a thing of the past........or am I just being pesimistic!:smilewinkgrin:

 

[SPARTYKUS]

except new builds on a known flood plain (like round Gloucester and Tewksbury) - then back to the ceiling .....

 

[Plonker 3]

except new builds on a known flood plain (like round Gloucester and Tewksbury) - then back to the ceiling .....

Here is the local 5 a side center that is built on a flood plain in Nottingham. Taken about 8 years ago.

I bet they didn't have all the DBs moved into the roof space.

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Yo Dillb

...they should have! (I was jesting re: loft space...)

 

[Guitarist]

Building regs also say that CU's should not be readily accessible to children. I can see little johnny having a great time playing with all the shiny switches while "being a big boy".
Personally, I would tell them to put it slightly higher and enclose in a cupboard if I was buying the place. What you have photographed here is just ridiculous tbh.

 

[Guest111]

sometimes the disability rules are taken too far,several years ago our house was remodernised by the council and they built a bathroom extension (single story) on the back.The door to bathroom is wide enough for a wheelchair as is door to garden and door into kitchen,door from kitchen to lounge is standard width so if we had a visitor who was in a wheelchair we would have to leave them in the garden or all sit in kitchen as they couldn,t get into lounge without leaving the wheelchair.Stupid or what?