Home Made Building Regulations!

15
Feb

Posted by admin

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad DIY Gas and Electrics

We were on site to replace an electric double oven and gas hob as well as add an new kitchen extractor fan. When we viewed the job a few days earlier it didn’t look too bad but of course we don’t have x-ray vision and can’t see behind kitchen units to see how things are really hooked up. In the case of this kitchen things were not hooked up as they should have been. We had work to do with the cabinets, eletrical and gas fittings too.

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The homeowner had already removed the cooker for us and when we arrived we discovered not only was the original carcass not level or true or plumb but the original cooker isolator switch pictured here had been wired in backwards and with no earth sleeves. Also the top of the surface mount box had a thumb sized hole in the top awaiting the first curious youngster to investigate. When we had that sorted we got onto the gas hob which too had been installed incorrectly with a flexible hose connected to a bayonet fitting that was so far down behind the carcass that we could barely disconnect it. We removed the bayonet connector and piped up the new hob in copper with a proper gas isolator.

When working on your own homes do like the professionals do. Always use qualified people to get the work done (Gas Safe Register, NIC EIC, FENSA, etc.). If you’re unsure about something ask somebody that knows. Don’t ask your mate who is handy with a screwdriver. Just because your old cooker was hooked up with a flexible gas hose doesn’t necessarily mean that you can hook up anything else that way. The building regulations are clear and the manufacturers installation book that comes with the appliance is the final say. If it says you can use a gas home then you can use a gas hose. If it says that you cannot then you cannot!

As for electrics there is no reason why a home owner cannot disconnect and reconnect a cooker cable. Just watch what you’re doing and connect things up the right way around. As always, the original hookup may have been wrong so always check the work that the previous person did; it may be wrong! Stupid mistakes like leaving an opening in the back box can lead to really dangerous situations and dead people.

Category : Awards

Have you experienced problems having a kitchen appliance installed?(polls)