Building Regs - Fitted Kitchens

[Deleted2797112]

Good morning,

Looking for more help please! My elderly Mum lives in a small retirement flat. We need to replace the kitchen as it's not working for her. It's a small space 2.1m x 2.1m and we want to have a U-shaped kitchen with the hob/oven centred at the base of the U (which is at right-angles to the window), sink on one arm underneath the window and refrigeration/worktops on the opposite arm.

We had one of the big DIY sheds do a design like this a few months back but it never got any further as she was quite ill in hospital for a while. We're back on the case now and getting some alternative quotes / designs. Another of the big DIY sheds have just called to say that the configuration she wants isn't possible because building regs require 2 feet clearance between the sink and hob. We've had a few designs done and no-one has mentioned this previously. I can understand perhaps that some of the 'designers' might miss something like this that wouldn't get picked up until the survey was done but just yesterday, what I would call a proper local builder/kitchen fitter came to take measurements and he didn't mention it either.

Can anyone explain this a bit further please - e.g. where is the 2 feet measured to and from? She wants to have this layout as it's really the only one that will work practically because the space is so tight but obviously if it's unsafe it's not going to be possible.

Thank you in advance!

 

[rjm2k]

Just had a look with Google...

The website below says minimum of 600mm but doesn't provide a reference for that, some other sites seem to reference the site below.

http://www.simplifydiy.com/kitchen/kitchen-planning/kitchen-layout-safety

B&Q list 600mm as the minimum recommended (which isn't the same thing).

I had a quick scan of the BR docs and couldn't spot anything mentioning such a distance but it maybe that I missed something or didn't search right.

It could be todo with whether or not the hob has any electrics to it (such as ignition or an electric hob) in which case there are guidelines but not absolute rules as far as I can see, and it's between the bit of the sink that can contain water, not the drainer, so a LH sink vs a RH sink could make a difference.

 

[jeds]

This isn't a regulation. It's based on recommended distances given by hob manufacturers. You find some recommend 600mm. I can think of an instance when 300mm was recommended in the past but I can't remember which manufacturer it was. Designers won't go against the recommendation because if something was to go wrong they'd be leaving themselves exposed. For my money the bottom line is you want to be able to put a pan down quickly to the side of the hob. As long as you've got clear space one side I would have thought it would be safe to have a smaller area the other.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Thanks for the replies. It's very confusing. I looked at the Building Regs but wasn't sure which one would apply - I couldn't find anything in part P. I googled too and found references to guidelines as above to 300m and 600mm.

There would be room to put a pan down on both sides - there is a 150mm base unit either side of the hob plus the depth of the worktop to each side which is 600mm.

I've attached a rough sketch of that end of the kitchen with dimensions - would it fulfill the guidelines like this?

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