Meter underneath a sink in cloakroom?

[cascas]

Im looking to put a wc and small sink in an under stairs cloakroom.

When under the stairs, if you face so the stairs are in front of you, there is an old "cold shelf" at the far end. The meter and CU are installed under the cold shelf.

Is it acceptable to fit a stud wall from the cold shelf to the stairs, and then put on a wall mounted basin.

The meter would be below the basin (about 1m back and 1m lower than the basin),

The consumer unit can be relocated the an accessible location, and the meter is accessible from a cupboard build under the sink.

 

[westie101]

Are you well insured for when some water gets onto the meter or cut-out?

From a DNO point of view not an acceptable idea as it introduces too many risks

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[JohnW2]

Are you well insured for when some water gets onto the meter or cut-out? From a DNO point of view not an acceptable idea as it introduces too many risks

From my reading of the OP's description, the basin (and presumably its plumbng) would be about 1 metre in front of the meter and separated from it by a wall and a shelf - is that really "too many risks" compared with many of the arrangements one sees out there?

Kind Regards, John.

 

[westie101]

I'll concede the point regarding the water, but still not happy as it will leave a very restricted space for any work on the meter and cut-out.
By the description this would come under the type where we would be asking for the cupboard etc to be removed before we did any work

 

[JohnW2]

I'll concede the point regarding the water, but still not happy as it will leave a very restricted space for any work on the meter and cut-out. By the description this would come under the type where we would be asking for the cupboard etc to be removed before we did any work

If I understand the OP correctly, what he is proposing would not alter accessibility of the meter and cutout. He seems to be saying that they are already under the built-in shelf (wehich is not going to be moved), and that his intention is only to build a 'wall' upwards from the shelf to the underside of the stairs. If that interpretation is correct, although there may be a bit of crawling involved to get to the cutout/meter, it would be no worse than the present situation.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[westie101]

although there may be a bit of crawling involved to get to the cutout/meter

As I see it it will be accessed by a cupboard door and will be 1m behind that door.

So would you like to reach in there to withdraw the main fuse without possibly being able to see it?
Would you like to be the one changing the cut-out live?
The working space seems bad enough without making it worse, this isn't about just reading the meter.

We constantly attend premises where the meter position, though difficult, was reasonably accessible. Only for the customer to have built a cupboard round it making it only accessible for meter reading!

I attended one some months back where the cut-out was in a corner of the kitchen, a cupboard had been built around it and the gas meter relocated in front of the cutout!
It took a while working blind for me to even remove the fuse to find it had blown, there was no way that it would have been safe to replace the fuse.
In the end the customer was left without supply whilst the gas meter was removed, even then it was a far too difficult job to replace the fuse laid on my side!

So no, anything that could make DNO equipment more difficult to access is not acceptable

 

[RMS]

It would be beneficial if the op could post some pictures. As said consideration is required for the accessibility for future maintenance.

It was only the other day I was inspecting a property that requires a new consumer unit. This was inside a cupboard and the frame work was built around the cutout. It was impossible to remove the fuse because of this.

 

[JohnW2]

As I see it it will be accessed by a cupboard door and will be 1m behind that door.

Possibly, although the OP did not mention a door (or anything else). However, if it's a more-or-less full-width door(s), it still doesn't sound to me as if access will be significantly more difficult than it is at present.

So no, anything that could make DNO equipment more difficult to access is not acceptable

No argument with that - but, as above, (and subject to seeing pics and getting more details) I'm not convinced that access would become significantly more difficult. Of course, you might not regard the present situation at the back of a 1m deep shelf (which is 1m above floor level) as being acceptable - in which case access obviously wouldn't have to become more difficult for it to be unacceptable!

Kind Regards, John.