Electrical outlet question

Robothell

Would appreciate some expert opinion here folks.

My question is to do with electrical outlets in a home - do they always need to be fixed to a wall or something equivalent? The reason I ask is that I have a new build house and have recently pulled out the tumble drier that was part of the turnkey package (not a built in appliance per se, but housed under a worktop alongside a washing machine). The electrical socket behind it is not fixed to the wall, rather the complete box is trailing on the floor on a length of electrical cable hanging from the wall. The same story goes for the washing machine. Foreman tells me this is standard practice to allow a bit of give for sliding appliances in and out but I thought there was a standard that required sockets to be wall fitted at a certain height? My concern is that the wire is now exposed to the heat at the back of the drier and could deteriorate and that the one for the washer could come into contact with water if there’s a leak.

missile

The foreman is talking rubbish and should be reported.
I would suggest you advise your neighbours to check their installations.

I had a similar issue in my new build home and the builder rectified the bodged installation and offered me £200 compensation. see here http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/5514021850

Risteard

Depends whether it is a proper trailing socket on flex or what.

EssexExile

I tend not to have sockets at floor level around washing machines etc. It's not a good place for electricity to be when the machine leaks.

tacpot12

If the electrical cable hanging out of the wall is solid cored twin-and-earth cable, then it is definitely not installed correctly. Solid core cable is not designed to be moved. It has to be rigidly fixed to something.

If the box that is trailing on the floor is designed to screwed to a wall (it has screw holes in it), then it is not installed correctly if it is left trailing on the floor. (Note that some trailing extension cords have keyhole-shaped slots in the sockets so that these can be fixed to a wall, it is ok to have these trailing sockets on the ground as they are designed to be used in this way.)

Ask the forman which edition of the IEE Regs allows solid cored cable to be left unsupported. (None within living memory do so).

The best place for sockets for under-counter appliances, in my opinion, is about halfway up the height of the kitchen units, as some appliances have the power cord coming out of the bottom and some from the top. With the socket halfway up, regardless of where the power cord exits the appliance, you will get enough free cord to reach behind the appliance to disconnect it. This also keeps the plug & socket away from any water leaks on the floor.

Ganga

missile wrote: »

The foreman is talking rubbish and should be reported.
I would suggest you advise your neighbours to check their installations.

I had a similar issue in my new build home and the builder rectified the bodged installation and offered me £200 compensation. see here http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/5514021850

Just looked at your photos,who installed the sockets,Stevie Wonder or Ray Charles:eek:

Robothell

Thanks for the advice folks. This is the socket in question, as I thought this is nonsense.

Edit - embedded image not working on my side, link is https://drive.google.com/open?id=1y8mcLffTGaheD7a9ng7Sn4b1cat_gKnC

Grenage

That's awful.

Heedtheadvice

As above needs rectification!!!!!

Jonesya

It looks like very poor workmanship, possibly unsafe because normal 13A sockets mounted on a plastic back-box don't normally clamp the incoming cable to relieve any strain, because they're designed to be fixed to the wall with the incoming cable fixed as well, not for moving around.

So if something caught the socket box, say while pulling the washing machine out, you could rip the cable out of the socket, as it would only be the terminal screws holding it in.

It needs fixing, but I'd also be a bit concerned whether it points to any other potential workmanship issues lurking. If you're still under warranty, you might want to get an independent inspection done?

Owain_Moneysaver

completely unacceptable.