help with siting of a consumer board

[Limara]

I am currently renovating a bunglaw and the consumer board has to be replaced one electrician has said it cant be housed in the solid Oak cupboard it is in and another has said they only need to change the backplate to ply can any one advise me on this I really dont want to loose the cupboard and I also dont want to pay out a fourtune and get it wrong. and I cant see why ply would be better than the solid wood.
BC is involved so it needs to be perfect!

 

[telectrix]

there no reason whatever for it not to be housed in a cupboard as long as there is access for maintenance/inspection purposes. nothing wrong with it being mounted on a solid wood base, either.

 

[Limara]

thank you for the quick reply one of them has even suggest moving supply I am sure all they are doing is trying to generate work!, it looks like its a purpose build cupboard not much deeper than the box itself but about 4 foot high so it disguises it. I really wanted to keep the cupboard because its in the lounge and not a pretty thing to look at without a cupboard lol

 

[Fox]

Agreed - as tel as said it would need to be accessible to comply. In my experience, there's no reason whatsoever that you should not have a consumer unit mounted within a cupboard.

There will be a 'schedule of inspections' that your electrician will have to complete along with his certification for the work that he/she has done. One of the inspections that must comply is 'adequacy of access to switchgear and other equipment'.

 

[telectrix]

any chance of posting a pic.of the consumer unit. keep it as a low res, jpeg.

 

[Limara]

any chance of posting a pic.of the consumer unit. keep it as a low res, jpeg.

Ill try and get one tonight light permitting by the time i get there, accessability is no problem as the only thing in there is the box, and the floor is handy storage area for lightbulbs !one electrician has suggested moving the entire lot inc supply into the house along to the next room I cant imagine the cost involved with this.

 

[Engineer54]

I am currently renovating a bunglaw and the consumer board has to be replaced one electrician has said it cant be housed in the solid Oak cupboard it is in and another has said they only need to change the backplate to ply can any one advise me on this I really dont want to loose the cupboard and I also dont want to pay out a fourtune and get it wrong. and I cant see why ply would be better than the solid wood.
BC is involved so it needs to be perfect!

A Solid Oak Cabinet, is going to give far better protection against fire than any plywood equivalent. It takes a fair bit of heat to ignite a hard wood, because of the close grains. That's if it is a solid oak cabinet, and not a veneered oak cabinet...

I've seen an old Oak framed barn burnt to the ground with the Oak frame still standing with little more than surface charring damage, which was reused in the rebuilding. Mind you it was old, and oak gets to be more like steel with age...

 

[telectrix]

one electrician has suggested moving the entire lot inc supply into the house along to the next room I cant imagine the cost involved with this.


guy's a plonker or a cash generator, if it complies with regulations where it is at present. where it would not comly is if the cupboard construction prevented removal of the CU cover and access to it. on a new build property, other rules apply. e.g. access to reset MCBs/RCDs by disabled etc.

 

[Stroppy]

a) Nothing wrong with it in an oak cupboard

b) If he's that worried about fire then line it on the inside with plasterboard and stick a smoke alarm in there.

 

[stuartcourt]

how many are in chipboard kitchen units

 

[Outspoken]

how many are in chipboard kitchen units

I gave up counting at 3,456,881 when someone shouted out 42 and I lost count!!

 

[SPARTYKUS]

That copper thats nasty flammable stuff too.

need to get it quite hot mind but it'll burn.

 

[richy3333]

That copper thats nasty flammable stuff too.

need to get it quite hot mind but it'll burn.

Then you get a better price from the Tat man

 

[shocking_eg]

sounds like these "sparks" could be plumbers !! lol

they're the ones who aren't aloud to fit stuff like boilers to flammable surfaces