Socket fitted to 4mm cabinet backing

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by Sociable Psycho, Jun 8, 2019.

  1. Sociable Psycho

    Sociable Psycho New Member

    Yes it has a back box and a front plate to insert the plugs. The Back Box is attached to the 4mm board. The total depth of the socket is approx 40mm. I was worried that the 'back box' was not securely fixed to the 4mm board.
     
  2. Alan sherriff

    Alan sherriff Active Member

    If you look deeper you will possible find other issues like trailing cable and not supported or lying under cupboards. Kitchens are very difficult as cupboards in place and design changes and tiling done so sparky has to wire the best he can not always to a required standard
     
  3. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    The back box should in no way be fixed to the fiber backing panel in the cupboard. It will not be securely fixed. Anyone suggesting that this is OK on the basis that the socket will rarely be used is not confirming to the requirements of 7671 which precludes all accessories being securely fixed. Just because the socket the is enclosed in a surface mount back plate is no excuse for not securely fixing the pattress in case it falls off. The risk of it falling off should not come into in the first place.

    OP, get you spark back in and get him to fix the socket PROPERLY to the wood inside the cupboard OR fix it to the wall behind the cupboard and cut a hole in the backing board to allow access.

    To fix a socket in such a way is highly unprofessional and extremely lazy.
     
    Deleted member 11267 likes this.
  4. candoabitofmoststuff

    candoabitofmoststuff Screwfix Select

    I share the concerns expressed, assuming that the backing board is just 3 or 4 mm hardboard...

    However, just as a point of interest, what's the feeling if the back box was glued, rather than just screwed? My feeling is that it's still not ideal because those hardboard backs, in my experience, aren't themselves very sturdy in the carcass.

    And what if the backboard is something more substantial... 8mm, or 12mm. I'm OK with that.

    Others?

    Cando
     
  5. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    Well I'm sure speculating about the thickness of the board is a topic for discussion, but in this case it's 4mm fiber board.

    This thread doesn't need to be over two pages, it should have been answered in the second post with DO NOT DO THIS IT IS NOT OK.
     
  6. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    And so children this is how it all began .....

    After many many years the leaders of the two Leccy tribes (the Doms and Coms) agreed to a meeting in the Wastelands. As they surveyed the devastation around them they formulated a truce and determined a way forwards so that society could be rebuilt and civilisation restored. They called the new document 'The 22nd Edition'.
     
    chippie244 and mcooper2406 like this.
  7. Sociable Psycho

    Sociable Psycho New Member

    Thank you Coloumb.

    I am a tenant of a housing association and the socket and other electrical work was done as part of a kitchen refurb. So the whole kitchen was gutted, new wires embedded into the wall. The wall plastered and new kitchen cabinets. The socket was put in before the woktop & gas hob was in place.
    Judging by how they have done the job (and others), at every turn they have adopted a 'half assed' attitude, and much of the work has been very poor standards.

    I will ask them to look at this again, but I suspect that they will dismiss it bacause they will need to remove the worktop to get to the socket because it is in such a narrow cabinet (300mm wide).

    Thank you All again.
     
  8. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    Wow grandad! So how did the 'pierce, sever and hate' rebellion come about?
    Well, it would be funny if it wasn't so ironic. Pierce, Sever 'n' Hate was a mispronunciation of p718 - the P718 Rebellion. That started because of a typo on p718 of the 22nd Edition - about halfway through the book so easily missed. Do you see the irony?
    As you know interpretation became a capital offence about ten years after the book was published and householders were being executed for using the wrong lamp holders over their stairs when in reality that regulation should have made clear that it referred to 'aircraft' landing lights.
    Thankfully this was all put to bed with Revision 68 although there is talk that there are still pockets of resistance in the further reaches of both Carmarthenshire and Norfolk. This was quite a surprise as they never used to bother with the regs before the Leccy Wars.
     
    chippie244 likes this.
  9. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    They can make a simple satisfactory adjustment without removing the worktop but despite the comments above I wouldn't consider it necessary. You would have to revisit half the kitchens in the UK if it was that critical.
     
  10. Hans_25

    Hans_25 Screwfix Select

    Would this issue come up on an EICR?
     
  11. Bazza

    Bazza Screwfix Select

    No. Most EICRers wouldn’t even look in the cupboard, or the kitchen. Sometimes, not even the house!
     
    chippie244 likes this.
  12. Hans_25

    Hans_25 Screwfix Select

    It can't be that dangerous then else an EICR isn't worth the paper its written on...
     
  13. Bazza

    Bazza Screwfix Select

    Some aren’t. I’ve seen some.
     

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