Moving sockets in kitchen - is new consumer unit needed?

[Alfie25]

I plan on getting a new boiler installed in the coming months in my kitchen. Due to its location, a couple of exisitng sockets will need to be moved slightly. I've read that adding new sockets in a kitchen will require a consumer unit with RCD protection, however, will just moving 2 existing sockets require the same?

At the minute I have a late 1980's Wylex cartridge fuse board.

 

[ericmark]

It will depend on the electrician doing the work. In theory moving a socket can be a massive job as the socket marks the route of the cable so the cable would need taking back to ceiling and dropping again.

Using maintenance free junction boxes and ali-tube cable for the drops with RCD sockets in theroy you can just protect the new sockets but in practice ali-tube cable is so expensive plus the cost of RCD sockets it's often cheaper to swap the consumer unit.

With my mothers house they fitted a 45A MCB in the consumer unit feeding with SWA a sub-consumer unit which in turn supplied the kitchen with RCBO's there are many ways around the problem.

But there are grey areas and until the electrician looks at the job there is no 100% answer. Some will bend rules more than other.

 

[Alfie25]

Interesting you say the socket marks the route of the cable as one of the sockets is below a condensing system boiler. If I follow the line of the socket directly upwards its practically in line with the boiler flue, so goodness knows what route it takes.

I'm planning on getting a combi boiler in its place but obviously all the pipes of the combi come off the base of it (as opposed to the top of the boiler at present) hence the need to move the sockets.

 

[Gutterball]

the cable may run horizontally not vertically.

 

[SimonH2]

Or the original electrician (or later BIYer) may have ignored safe zones and run the cable at an angle, or even not in a straight line.
Or the cabling may have predated safe zones. When did that come in ?