Electrical extension length limit

I start asking myself if this thread has reached 44 posts to find a way around the regs. At the end of the day the regs are basically there for safety and any attached, fitted, fixed, screwed, clipped or any other word which has any sort of similar meaning should be the basis for bringing something into the 'fixed regs' .... Let's do it right and stop trying to find loopholes.
As I've implied, I think this issue is different from many of the 'attempts to find loopholes' which we see (and which, like you, I don't really approve of).

For a start, it sounds as if your are talking about 'loopholes' in terms of the Wiring Regs (i.e. BS7671), but that is not what we are talking about. We are talking about the notification rules in Wales which, per eric's interpretation, mean that if, in a Welsh kitchen, he used a cable clip to remove the potential trip hazard created by the cable of an extension lead, he would have to pay £000 to the LA, but that if he left the cable as a trip hazard, he would not incur that expense.

Whether in a Welsh kitchen or anywhere else, in terms of electrical common sense, there clearly is no (electrical) difference between a plugged-in extension lead the sockets and/or cable of which are in some way 'attached' to the building and one where they were not so attached. Indeed, the only potentially safety-related difference I can think of it that if the extension and its cable are NOT 'attached', then there is increased risk of damage to the cable and/or sockets outlets (not to mention the 'trip hazard' presented by a non-attached cable). It therefore seems (in terms of common sense) a little odd that, in relation to Welsh kitchen, if one wants to avoid the cost of notification one has to go with the slightly less safe option!

My personal version of common sense says that the Welsh law should decide whether or not plugging an extension lead into a socket in a Welsh kitchen is, or is not, notifiable, and then stick with that decision whether any part of the extension lead is, or is not, 'attached' in some way.

Kind Regards, John
 
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My personal version of common sense says that the Welsh law should decide whether or not plugging an extension lead into a socket in a Welsh kitchen is, or is not, notifiable, and then stick with that decision whether any part of the extension lead is, or is not, 'attached' in some way.
If they were to decide such a daft thing, who would be even dafter to leave it plugged in for the inspection?
 
If they were to decide such a daft thing, who would be even dafter to leave it plugged in for the inspection?
Quite - or remove the cable clip(s), and/or lift the sockets bit off the screw heads on the wall, prior to the inspection.

[ Mind you, I can't think of any situation in which an 'inspection' would be undertaken to determine whether there was anything that should have been notified under Welsh law, but hadn't been! ]

The common sense seems very clear to me - that if they accept that the use of an 'unattached' extension lead in a Welsh kitchen is not notifiable, then any 'attaching' should not make any difference!

Kind Regards, John
 

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