installing a isolation switch

nocowboy · Dec 4, 2011

hi new to the forum i'm not a sparky but a bricklayer so not that clued up on electrics.I have just installed a new kitchen after being told by the sparky at work how too i have added another 2 new double wall sockets,to the main ring which was fine until the mrs changed the design round and wanted to put her dishwasher and washing machine under an additional worktop, this means the double socket will be beneath the worktop and will be behind the appliances so i presume it must have a isolation switch above the worktop, so to install an isolation switch to that socket what would be the best way to do it? and do you wire a isolation switch to the main ring just like a normal wall socket then spur of this to the socket as i need to put in another for the extractor fan ? also i want to install a outside socket to a brick built shed that is adjoining the house would it be ok to just spur of a double socket for this? sorry for all the questions

trev · Dec 6, 2011

Polo, I don't think as a trade we are up ourselves, we believe that the public should be aware of the rules and regs not that they should know them inside out. If there was a greater awareness then maybe the public would not be preyed upon by cowboys and shysters and perhaps there would be less people being killed each year by either these people or enthusiastic DIYers who think it's just about a few cables.
Maybe the trade did miss the boat but is that not the fault of the likes of IET, NIC etc but you're wrong about parts for gas installations being restricted, if I wanted to I could walk into Plumb Center this afternoon and walk out with a load of copper pipe, radiators and a boiler. There's ads in the Sunday papers where you can buy full systems from £1k with no questions asked.
Maybe it is too late to get meaningful change in the way our profession is viewed, personally I hope not.

Knobhead · Dec 6, 2011

By rights I should get a Part Peed electrician to do any work in my place. Hell will freeze over first, I want the job done to MY standards. And I’m only Part P**sed, but I’ll guarantee my work for the next 50 years.

The sooner Part P is ousted the better! It’s depriving well-qualified electricians that stick to the rules in favour of Joe from the pub.

Rant over! For the moment!

polo1 · Dec 6, 2011

trev1 said:
Polo, I don't think as a trade we are up ourselves, we believe that the public should be aware of the rules and regs not that they should know them inside out. If there was a greater awareness then maybe the public would not be preyed upon by cowboys and shysters and perhaps there would be less people being killed each year by either these people or enthusiastic DIYers who think it's just about a few cables.
Maybe the trade did miss the boat but is that not the fault of the likes of IET, NIC etc but you're wrong about parts for gas installations being restricted, if I wanted to I could walk into Plumb Center this afternoon and walk out with a load of copper pipe, radiators and a boiler. There's ads in the Sunday papers where you can buy full systems from £1k with no questions asked.
Maybe it is too late to get meaningful change in the way our profession is viewed, personally I hope not.

Don't take my comments too seriously Trev, said a bit tounge in cheek. I do think as a trade/profession that we have not done enough to inform the public, and I'm sorry, but I do put NIC and otherTrade Bodies firmly in this category. I have to agree with others that these bodies appear to have become too focused on fee income from members, although many do provide good backup for those of us at the coal face.

We are where we are and whilst I always try to inform customers, other trades about the dangers of messing around with something which they don't understand, I just don't see the general position of poor/low public understanding changing in the future....and of course you are right about access to gas parts - I know what I meant to say, it just didn't come out right!
Cheers!