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Electrical

Is it ok for a 1kW electric oven NOT to have a DP isolator?

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 3.01 PM

I used to work as an electrical building services engineer but my knowledge of the code is now a bit rusty. The electrician working on my parents' new kitchen has plugged the new built-in oven into a 13A wall socket that will be inaccessible when the hob is installed. The only way to isolate the oven once the kitchen is finished will be at the consumer unit, which is in another room upstairs. Does this really meet the requirements of BS 7671? Also, both the electric hob (which IS wired into a cooker switch) and oven are not on a dedicated circuit, but are fed of the same 32A ring as the rest of the kitchen sockets. Assuming that the combined rating won't overload the MCB (which I expect the electrician has checked), is there anything that says that an oven or hob HAS have a dedicated radial supply? Thanks

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1 Answer

Electrical Safety Services

Rating: 5 out of 5

Dereham

It is permissible to spur the oven and hob off of the 32amp ring circuit provided that the ring is not already heavily loaded. If the washing machine and dishwasher etc are also on the same ring, then this is poor electrical design. Although not essential, good installation practice dictates that where possible a dedicated radial circuit would normally be installed for the oven and hob, although normally customers want the cheapest option and don't want to pay for a higher specification option. Do you know what options if any they were given? With regards to the isolator issue, then you're right to be concerned as this is not acceptable, there should be a readily accessible local means of isolation for both the hob and the oven. This could be in an adjacent cupboard, but directly behind the oven is not considered accessible. As it is, it would be recorded as a code C3 defect, not unsafe, but non-compliant with BS7671:2008. As this work is Part P notifiable please check that your parents get both the electrical certificate and Part P building control notification, as without them they could potentially be fined up to £5000 for breaking the law even though they did not do the work themselves! See link below for more information http://www.donttakethep.co.uk/

Answered5 August 2013