wall sockets the distance they need to protrude from wall ? how afr

[paulwest]

I have had the house re-wired and wondered if there is any regulations on how far the sockets should be from the wall ? obviously not to expose the wires, but there are some walls where it is about 2-3mm from the old wall paper or so but on fresh new plasterboard walls its 8-10mm, does it matter as long there is no access to the bare wires in the wall/behinf the socket surface ?
Thanks in advance, I would appreciate your comments

 

[GLENNSPARK]

As long as what we call the IP (ingress protection) rating isn`t compromised : that is to say that the socket fronts are securely fixed to the wall/backbox without any gaps around the sides then they are ok.

 

[sparkinlee]

Not quite sure what you mean about how far the sockets should be from the wall... do you mean that there is a gap behind the plate of the sockets when you'd expect them to be flush with the wall? If so, I'd say there should be no gap (unless there is space left deliberately for a further wall covering).

 

[Des 56]

I cant quite picture the problem you have with the description

One thing I can say, any socket that I fit will be flush with any wall at all times unless there is a surface mounted pattress on the wall
There are regulations for ingress protection,it is important

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Unless the boxes have been installed to allow for future plastering the sockets should fit flush with the wall,end of.
If they dont it sounds like you have had a pretty poor quality job done......any chance of some photo's?

 

[timo1]

Hello mate, bit difficult to visualise what you mean, but as long as the wires are enclosed then that should be fine. The fittings should be flush though, are they surface mounted? If you have a picture then that would be helpful. If its a new rewire you should have been given an electrical installation certificate and should have RCD protection.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Could do with some snaps of em.....be able to make a better judgement see......
Like timo..........30 mA RCDs and an EIC for work done n all.............

 

[Adam W]

Ultimately they should be screwed tight to the wall, which is simply a case of tightening 2 screws, however if it were my house I would rather have 'fresh new plasterboard' decorated in some way with the sockets over the top instead of someone trying to decorate around them, eg painting them to the wall.

 

[paulwest]

, just the wall are solid and so when the holes were channel out they had to filled in with cement around the box before the socket was screwed in , hope it makes sense

these are pics ive just taken, evything works fine, nothing is exposed. The question is that these two protrude less from the wall compared to sockets cut into plasterboard walls where there are flush with the wall and possibly 3/4 mm further out from the wall.

 

[telectrix]

that looks lik,e a ****ty finished job to me. the plaster should have been made good and then the socket fronts fixed flush after.

 

[Adam W]

Yes it looks like what they've done there is screw the socket back and then seal around it, whereas as Tel says the hole should have been made good and then the socket screwed back onto it.
The edge of the socket should lie on the surface of the wall.
I'd probably ask someone to come back and sort that out, although they might have a job getting the sockets off the wall now they've stuck them on.

 

[Des 56]

It looks like a plasterers shoddy performance,unless the spark was also he

Like others,the front should have been removed or at least slackened off,the plastering completed and gone off,before the socket front was re fixed

 

[platty1005]

This looks like shoddy work on both parts. The back box should have been fitted better IE flush with existing wall finish and no socket fitted until after plastering better known as first fix. This would have made the plasterers job easier afterwards. When plaster gone off sockets etc should be fitted and inspection and testing and certification carried out etc. This is commonly known as Second Fix.
Most Joints including accessory terminations should be accessible for inspection and testing these are not without damaging the wall.
Did the sparky plaster up as well ?
Get the sparky back to do the job proper.
He should be part P registered NICEIC or NAPIT etc make a formal complaint to his registering body if he won't sort it out.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

I hate seeing stuff like that...lack of due care and attention.....isolate the supply to em by plugging something loud into em then go and knock off the breaker thats feeding em (you will know when you have got the right one as whatever you plugged in will go off) and carefully unscrew em (not all the way) just enough so you can fill opto and a bit behind em so they sit flat and dont look p1ssed up on the wall. Use a chalk based filler which wont take too long to go off and when it looks gone off enough to screw em back (not too tightly) do that but dont reinstate the supply until you have them secured to the wall properly..........or get someone in or them that did it get em back in to sort this crap out...............

 

[telectrix]

looks like the job's been a team effort between a plasterer and stevie wonder.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

looks like the job's been a team effort between a plasterer and stevie wonder.

Definetely a blind mans bluff job here tel.....which concerns me as if its the same electrician who did the "plastering".....wrong polarity etc maybe.........

 

[paulwest]

thanks for your help, the electrician who did all the rewiring after i chased it all out refused to sign me off until these two sockets were futher out from the wall as the surface was flush with the wall as its a soft brick, anyway got a the work as it is as in the photos, so hopefully it should be ok, but the regulation authority don't want to know, they just say the only person who can sign it off is the elctrician who did the work, and he refuses to fit the sockets correctlyas he puts it where as the building control officer who recently was on site looking at a different project says the works ok.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

As far as a bc officer is concerned it might be ok as he will be looking at the IP and the paperwork that should accompany this but personally....i wouldn`t put my name to this as it looks shoddy and i`m all for doin it right or not starting at all........

 

[sparkinlee]

Paul, are you the house owner, or a builder employing the electrician, or...?

I take it from your post that you did the chasing for the electrician and he fitted cables and accessories. I've worked in that way sometimes, but it's still up to me the electrician to take responsibility for the work. And yes sometimes you get soft bricks or other reasons why chases end up being deeper than intended, but there are ways to deal with this - deeper back boxes, etc - so that you're still left with a good job.

I agree with the other comments that this should be sorted - how are you going to decorate around this decently?

 

[Geordie Spark]

THAT is a bodge job. Plain & simple.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Where a hole ends up too deep for the flush box to be screwed to the brick there is a simple way to fix so that the box ends up correctly installed.
Fill the hole with soft undercoat plaster and then tap the box back into the hole so that it is level,and square,and flush..The plaster will squidge out around the box and can be troweled off.Leave the plaster a couple of mill back from the surface and when it's gone off the box will be solid.Finally float over with finish.
Not rocket science.