Consumer unit height

[Doug1]

As far as I can tell, the Building Regs and Approved Documents are vague on the height of consumer units. Technical guides, however, are increasingly including CUs on the list of fixtures to be set within disabled heights.

As RF Lighting said, the definitive answer can only come from the building inspector. Being a new build it may have a warranty from the NHBC or Zurich, in which case you must also meet their requirements.

The Planning Portal website has an FAQ page for Part M, www.planningportal.gov.uk/.... About 9 10ths of the way down is the question

Q. Should the height of trip switches and consumer units (fuse boxes), which are normally positioned at least 1200mm above floor level to avoid tampering by children, be within the 450mm to 1200mm height range specified in Section 8?

A. AD M does not offer guidance on the positioning of trip switches and fuse boxes. A new Part of the Building Regulations, Part P 'Electrical safety', with accompanying guidance in an Approved Document, came into force on 1 January 2005. Part P 'Electrical safety' can be found on the Planning Portal.

Section 10.5.2 of BS 8300:2001, 'Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people - code of practice' states that:

• electrical socket outlets, telephone points and TV sockets should be located between 400mm and 1000mm above the floor.
• Switches for permanently wired appliances should be mounted between 750mm and 1200mm above the floor.
• Meters should be mounted between 1200mm and 1400mm from the floor so that the readings can be viewed by a person standing or sitting. Pre-pay meters should be accessible but protected from tampering by children.
• All switches and controls that require manual dexterity should be between 750mm and 1000mm from the floor, and
• the maximum height of simple push button controls which require limited dexterity should be 1200mm.

A specific question with a vague answer.

As far as I know, the latest versions of the IEE On Site Guide, the Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs and the Zurich Technical Manual all now include the trip switches within the disabled heights.

If the dwelling is specifically for disabled people then the CU presumably has to be at disabled height. To replace an existing CU, you can probably put it back at the original height.