DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I'm kinda new to the forum and having recently moved into a new place need to get up to speed on a few things quickly.

The house I have moved into seems to be a mix of old and new as regards the electrics. There's a lot of (badly run) modern cabling which will need tidying up, but to be on the safe side it's my intention to re-wire the whole place (subject to Part P restrictions on work in areas like the kitchen and bathroom).

My first question relates to the positioning of sockets on the ring main. All of the sockets seem to be in fairly good repair, of modern design and as I said, wired with modern cable. They are however all mounted in the skirting boards, (we have deep ones being a Victorian terrace). Is it OK to leave them here or is there a requirement in the regs to move them above the skirting boards?

I've found lots of references to them being mounted in the skirting being indicative of an older installation that may need re-wiring, but nothing definitively stating if they do or don't need to be moved.

Steve

[quote="WhiteKnight469"]Apologies if this has been posted before, but I'm kinda new to the forum and having recently moved into a new place need to get up to speed on a few things quickly.

The house I have moved into seems to be a mix of old and new as regards the electrics. There's a lot of (badly run) modern cabling which will need tidying up, but to be on the safe side it's my intention to re-wire the whole place (subject to Part P restrictions on work in areas like the kitchen and bathroom).

My first question relates to the positioning of sockets on the ring main. All of the sockets seem to be in fairly good repair, of modern design and as I said, wired with modern cable. They are however all mounted in the skirting boards, (we have deep ones being a Victorian terrace). Is it OK to leave them here or is there a requirement in the regs to move them above the skirting boards?

I've found lots of references to them being mounted in the skirting being indicative of an older installation that may need re-wiring, but nothing definitively stating if they do or don't need to be moved.

Steve[/quote]

WHITEKNIGHT469
U SAY IT IS YOUR INTENTION TO REWIRE THE WHOLE
PLACE. THIS WOULD BE SUBJECT TO PART P REGULATIONS AND IS
NOTIFIABLE WORK.
ALL YOUR SOCKETS WOULD THEN CONFORM TO NEW REGS OF 450 MM
FROM FLOOR LEVEL.
IF U CONSULTED YOUR PART P SPARK U MAY GET AN IDEA OF THE CONDITION OF EXISTING WIRING AND BE ABLE TO TIDY IT UP UNDER HIS SUPERVISION.
COMMENTS TODAY ABOUT SOCKETS ON SKIRTING BOARDS R
MAINLY THAT THEY R TOO LOW AND CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR CERTAIN
PERSONNEL USING THEM .

BLAKEY1963