Is my kitchen wiring correct?

In my kitchen I want to put a new spur socket below the work surface behind the washing machine as the flex is currently looping unattractivly round the edge of the kithcen worktop to the plug sockets above. On investigating the wiring on that side of the kitchen I found this...



So basically as far as I can tell the two FCUs for the ignition for the gas hob and gas oven are on the ring main, and the first socket above is a regular spur, but I thought you couldn't spur off a spur (left hand socket and FCU for extractor fan) and the cabinet light's FCU is spurred off a spur off a spur.

According to my limited DIY knowledge, this isn't how its normally done. Am I right? I guess the big question is whether this is safe? Or do I need to try to extend the ring main.

Many thanks,
Dan

Yes you are right. - cowboy kitchen fitters! This is part of the reason PArt P was introduced.
You arent allowed to run a spur off a spur. The first socket and the FCUs should be a part of the ring to make it safe. If wiring to the second FCU is tricky you could run the second FCU off the LOAD side of the first FCU. The cabinet lites are a reasonably light load.

Do remember that all electrical work done in a kitchen is notifiable so you must notify if u are doing the work yourself, or get in a registered spark.
See www.competentperson.co.uk for one near you.

it looks to me like the easiest way to fix this one is to remove the connection between the two FCUs and then run a cable from the lower FCU in the diagram to the socket that currently only has one cable.

Alternatively, remove the cable joining the two lower FCUs like plugwash says then run a new cable from the lower FCU all the way up to the extractor FCU. This will give you a ring with two single spurs on it, namely the left hand socket and the lighting FCU.

Better still, do exactly as plugwash says but also remove the cable linking the two sockets and add a new one from the left hand socket up to the extractor FCU. I like to have double sockets on the ring whenever possible.

All of this assumes that you can get the extra cable in. S*d's law says that the wiring is all set in plaster and tiled over!

You are of course assuming that it is in fact meant to be a ring curcuit. Could the kitchen be on it's on radial curcuit, what size is the fuse/breaker?

It probably isnt, but you never know.

Many thanks for the comprehensive replies... a couple of final questions.

1) Just to clarify - in Plugwash's scheme (shown in red below), the cabinet lights are still a spur from a spur, but as Taylor pointed out they are "a reasonably light load" and I know lighting circuits are normally not a ring. Space Cat's scheme (green below) is definitely superior but double the work (but definitely possible). Do you recommended I run that extra cable all the way to the top?

2) TrueBlue you're exactly right - all the wires with both ends shown on the diagram I have confirmed are what I think they are by disconnecting everything and using a continuity tester to work out whats what, but I don't know for sure that those two wires at the bottom of the diagram are indeed the ring.

I can see the sockets etc on the other side of the kitchen (and indeed the rest of the back of the house) are on a ring, on the same 32A MCB. However I guess one of the wires could be a spur off the ring (ie the whole diagram is one big spur) and the second could be heading off somewhere else.

How should I confirm that the two initial wires are part of the ring main???

3) And finally, the whole point of this was to put a new socket behind the washing machine on the left of the diagram. Is it usual to make it able to be switched without pulling out the washing machine (as shown in the diagrams below)? Do you recommend this as worth it? And if so, do I use a FCU or is an equivalent available without a fuse (as there's one in the actual machine plug down below). I can only find a 20A switch (in Screwfix catalog), I figure it only needs to be 13A.

Many thanks again guys!
Dan

How should I confirm that the two initial wires are part of the ring main???

Click to expand...

Disconnect the cable between the double sockets at one of them. If it's a ring you'll still have continuity between corresponding terminals in the two sockets. If neither live nor neutral are continuous it's a spur or, just possibly, a broken ring. If only one of them is continuous you've got a ring with a fault in it. Note that the earth wire might show continuity even on a spur because it can be through bonded pipework.