minimum safe distances for cooker switch

[Poppylicious]

We're fitting a new cooker switch for a range cooker as the old one was incorrectly wired and in a ridiculous place.
I've been advise that this needs to be at least 30cm to either the left or the right of the range hob for safety reasons.

My question is, is this correct?
Could I not just put it 20 cm to the left, but higher up the wall?
I only ask because at the moment it would mean that it would end up behind the fridge, which kind of makes the whole thing pointless in case of fire etc!

Hope I've explained myself correctly

Poppy

 

[JohnD]

The "to the side" rule is so that, in the event of, for example, a chip pan fire, with burning fat cascading over the top of the cooker, you don't have to lean through the flames to turn it off.

The switch needs to be with 2m of the cooker, in plain sight, and, if not obvious what it is for, durably labelled.

Is there a suitable position to either side within 2m?

 

[Poppylicious]

we had intended to put it back in it's original location, but higher (as it was previously below the work surface!), but because the range is bigger than the previous cooker with the 30 cm rule it won't fit.

we have a large fridge on one side then a 30cm base unit (above which I had originally intended to fit the cooker switch) then the range and then a 90cm corner base cabinet.
I guess we could move it to the other side, lots of cutting out though!

 

[Taylortwocities]

The 2 metre max from the appliance is a part of BS7671.
The 30cm minimum is a guidance figure only and is mentioned in The Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations.

You could therefore place it at 20cm but note this is a place where there will a lot of steam and fat.

Tayla

PS I've just replaced a double socket in my local cafe. The socket is on the wall right next to the deep fat fryer.