moving cooker switch cable...please help!

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Hi I am new to this forum and would appreciate any help. I am having a new kitchen fitted and need to move my cooker switch slightly to the left. I do not want the hassle of lifting floorboards to extend the cable and wondered if by routing the cable i already have slightly diagonally across the wall to the new switch position this would still be covered by part p regs. I know cable should not run diagonally but is this a part p requirement or just for safety when fixing anything to a wall at a later date?
 
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If you run the cable diagonally it will no longer be in a "Safe zone".

You can technically run it the way you wish as long as the cable is 50mm deep or has Mechanical protection i.e can't be nailed or drilled through.
 
Thanks for your reply, but is this a legal requirement for the cable to be 50mm deep? the wall will be marked to show the kitchen fitter the 45degree angle that the cable runs along. thanks again for any help
 
It is a requirement of BS7671, which although isn't law itself, is the main method of complying with part P of the building regulations, which are statutory.

The fact that you will mark the route for the kitchen fitter is irrelevant. You can't run cables diagonally unless they are mechanically protected or buried more than 50mm deep.
 
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Ok thanks for that reply. What would be the best material to use to mechanically protect the cable?
 
Earthed and properly terminated metal conduit. This is not a job for a DIYer, since it needs special expensive tools.
 
You could use SWA but since all the hidden cable will need to be replaced you might aswell cut a new chase in the correct location so that the cable runs within the safe zones.
 
Taylortwocities said:
This link will illustrate why cables must be properly installed and never at an angle.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3735928.stm[/QUOTE]

Live current

Detective Inspector Tim Dobson said the wires did not go up the wall vertically and then horizontally, as expected, but veered off at a five degree angle.

"The wire was outside the area of expectancy, at a slight angle," he said.

Two years later Mrs Wherry's husband put the utensil rack beneath the extractor hood and a screw went into the cable.

Over time the rack and cable had moved so that the screw came into contact with the live current.
The reason for part P
 
Chivers7 said:
Taylortwocities said:
This link will illustrate why cables must be properly installed and never at an angle.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3735928.stm[/QUOTE]

Live current

Detective Inspector Tim Dobson said the wires did not go up the wall vertically and then horizontally, as expected, but veered off at a five degree angle.

"The wire was outside the area of expectancy, at a slight angle," he said.

Two years later Mrs Wherry's husband put the utensil rack beneath the extractor hood and a screw went into the cable.

Over time the rack and cable had moved so that the screw came into contact with the live current.
The reason for part P

Dodgy electrics have been killing people for years and nothing was done, then an MP's daughter got fried...............
 
And for anyone putting screws or drills into a wall to use a cable / metal / stud detector.

That is not defending the person who put the cable at an angle.

It is considering all possibilities and then going some way to avoid injury from an un-known error by another person.
 
My main issue was the assertion that the kitchen fitter would be told that the cable was out of zone so he would miss the cable.

Thats fine while you live in the house and you may remember that the cable is not situated where it should be. These days PVC wiring can last for decades so you have to bear in mind that there will be other people owning the house after you and generations of kitchen fitters and sparkies who will work on the basis that cables are run in the correct zones.

You should only be talking about lifting one floorboard upstairs to do it properly . How hard can it be?
 

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