A kitchen is the hardest-worked room in a house, but BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 has no kitchen section in Part 7. The rules that bite are the general ones: 30 mA RCD protection for every socket-outlet up to 32 A (Regulation 411.3.3) and for domestic lighting (411.3.4), concealed-cable zones (522.6.202), cable sizing for cookers and hobs, isolation and switching under Chapter 46, and Part P notification for new circuits. The often-quoted 300 mm from a sink is not in BS 7671 at all; it comes from IET guidance on the Building Regulations. This guide separates what is required from what is good practice, and covers coding and certification.
- A kitchen is not a special location in BS 7671, and has not been a special location for Part P in England since the 2013 Approved Document P.
- Every socket-outlet up to 32 A needs 30 mA RCD protection (411.3.3); a domestic kitchen lighting circuit does too (411.3.4).
- 300 mm from a sink or draining board is IET guidance, not a regulation; NHBC accepts 100 mm from a cooker. Nothing goes directly above or behind a hob.
- Cooker diversity (On-Site Guide): first 10 A, plus 30% of the remainder, plus 5 A if the control unit has a socket.
- Induction hobs need a Type A RCD or better, not Type AC (531.3.3).
- No supplementary bonding to sinks has been required since 2008; check main bonding instead.
- New circuit = EIC (and notification in England); added sockets or spurs = Minor Works.
Is a kitchen a special location under BS 7671?
No. Part 7 of BS 7671 covers special installations and locations such as bathrooms (Section 701), swimming pools (702) and EV charging (722). Kitchens are not on the list. What applies instead is the general duty to select equipment for the external influences it will meet, including splashing water, steam and heat (Chapter 51 and Section 512), and to follow manufacturers' instructions (Regulation 134.1.1).
Part P is a separate matter. England's 2006 Approved Document P made kitchens special locations, so almost every kitchen job was notifiable. The 2013 edition removed kitchens and outdoor work. The IET Part P FAQ now lists only three notifiable categories in England: a new circuit, a consumer unit replacement, and an addition or alteration to an existing circuit in a special location (a room with a bath or shower, or with a swimming pool or sauna heater).
Wales diverged on 31 July 2014 when the Welsh Building Regulations were amended separately, and Welsh local authority guidance still tells homeowners that any electrical work in a kitchen needs approval. Scotland is not covered by Part P at all; electrical work there falls under the Building (Scotland) Regulations and the Technical Handbooks.
Where can sockets go near a sink or hob?
Because there are no kitchen zones, these figures are guidance, but they are the guidance an assessor or an EICR inspector will hold you to.
| Item | Common guidance | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Socket to sink or draining board | At least 300 mm horizontally from the edge | IET Electrician's Guide to the Building Regulations (section 5.2.2) |
| Socket or switch to hob | 300 mm preferred; never directly above or behind | IET Electrician's Guide; NHBC accepts 100 mm measured horizontally from a cooker |
| Accessory mounting | On the building fabric, not on kitchen furniture; no reaching over a hob to operate | IET Electrician's Guide (5.2.2) |
| Socket height above worktop | Usually about 150 mm to clear splashbacks and kettles | Trade practice; check worktop and splashback heights |
| Sockets and switches in new dwellings | 450 mm to 1,200 mm above finished floor | Approved Document M (England), Category M4(1) |
| Cooker control switch | Within about 2 m of the appliance, not above the hob, reachable in an emergency | IET On-Site Guide |
| Appliances in units | Switched FCU or switched socket above the worktop feeding an outlet behind the appliance | Chapter 46 isolation and switching; manufacturer instructions |
Two points come up on site. First, hob and hood manufacturers publish clearance distances, and Regulation 134.1.1 makes those instructions part of your design, so a socket inside the stated clearance is a departure even if it is 300 mm away. Second, the Approved Document M height band applies to new dwellings, and sockets above worktops are accepted outside it; it is the general-purpose sockets on open walls that must comply.
The 300 mm figure is old. Voltimum published it as an industry recommendation in November 2004 and noted that "BS 7671 is not prescriptive with respect to such distances". Treat a socket at 250 mm from a sink as a design judgement, not a defect, unless water is reaching it.
Do kitchen sockets and lights need RCD protection?
Yes, and this one is a regulation. Regulation 411.3.3 requires additional protection by a 30 mA RCD for socket-outlets rated up to 32 A. The only exception, a documented risk assessment, applies to premises other than dwellings, so every socket in a domestic kitchen is covered. Regulation 411.3.4, introduced by Amendment 2 in 2022, extends this to lighting circuits in domestic premises.
Cables concealed in a wall at a depth under 50 mm also need 30 mA RCD protection under 522.6.202 unless they run in the permitted zones (within 150 mm of the top of a wall or a corner, or horizontally or vertically in line with an accessory) or are mechanically protected. Kitchens are full of drops behind units that wander out of zone, so the RCD is usually doing the work.
RCD type matters more in kitchens than most rooms. Induction hobs, variable-speed extractor fans and some washing machines contain electronics that can produce DC components in a fault current. Regulation 531.3.3 limits Type AC devices to fixed equipment known to be free of DC components, so an induction hob circuit needs Type A as a minimum, and the manufacturer may ask for Type F or B. Check the installation instructions before you choose an RCBO.
Arc fault detection is the other question customers now ask. Regulation 421.1.7 makes AFDDs mandatory for socket circuits in some premises and recommends them in others; our AFDD requirements guide sets out which.
How should a kitchen be circuited?
No regulation says a kitchen must have its own ring, but the load case makes the argument. A kettle draws about 13 A, a dishwasher or washing machine around 10 A while heating, and a tumble dryer about 10 A. Put those on a 32 A ring shared with the lounge and someone will trip it on a Sunday morning.
| Circuit | Typical design | Protection | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen sockets | 2.5/1.5 mm² ring final, 32 A | 30 mA RCD/RCBO, Type A where appliances need it | Dedicated ring recommended; one unfused spur per point |
| Dishwasher, washing machine, dryer | Off the ring via switched FCU or switched socket | Via ring device | Isolation above the worktop |
| Cooker or oven over 2 kW | Dedicated radial, often 6 mm² on 32 A | 30 mA RCD where cable is concealed in a wall or the control unit has a socket | Size with diversity and installation method |
| Induction hob | Dedicated radial, 32 A or 40 A | Type A RCD minimum (531.3.3) | Check rated current and any power-limit setting |
| Lighting | 1.0 or 1.5 mm² radial, 6 A | 30 mA RCD (411.3.4) | Fire-rated downlights where the ceiling is fire-separating |
| Extractor, boiler, under-cabinet lights | Switched FCU, 3 A or 5 A fuse | Via source circuit | Gives the local isolation for maintenance |
On downlights, Part B of the Building Regulations only demands fire-rated fittings where the ceiling forms part of a fire-separating element, such as a ceiling with a room above in a flat or a loft conversion. A single-storey extension with a loft above is a different case, and so is a bathroom zone fitting. Fit fire-rated cans where they are needed rather than blanket-claiming every downlight must be.
Worked example: range cooker and hob
A 10.8 kW range cooker with a socket in its control unit draws 47 A flat out at 230 V. The On-Site Guide diversity method gives:
- First 10 A of rated current: 10 A
- 30% of the remaining 37 A: 11.1 A
- Socket in the control unit: 5 A
- Design current Ib: 26.1 A
A 32 A device is fine for Ib. The cable must then carry 32 A for its installation method: 6 mm² in Method C (clipped direct) does it easily, but a 6 mm² run through insulated stud walls or across a loft may not. Our cooker circuit design and diversity guide has the Table 4D5 ratings and the hob power-management cases.
What Zs should a kitchen circuit show?
The maximum Zs figures in Table 41.3 apply at the conductor operating temperature. Compare a cold reading against 80% of them.
| Device | Table 41.3 max Zs | 80% for a cold test reading |
|---|---|---|
| B6 lighting | 7.28 Ω | 5.82 Ω |
| B32 ring or cooker | 1.37 Ω | 1.10 Ω |
| B40 hob or cooker | 1.09 Ω | 0.87 Ω |
A long ring from the far end of the house on a TN-S supply can sit close to 1.10 Ω, so test the furthest point, not the socket nearest the board. See maximum Zs values for the full table.
How do you provide isolation for fixed appliances?
Chapter 46 of BS 7671 covers isolation and switching, including switching off for mechanical maintenance where someone could be hurt by a motor or heater while working on it. In a kitchen that means the dishwasher, washing machine, extractor and boiler. A switched fused connection unit or switched socket above the worktop is the accepted way to do it, and it lets the customer kill an appliance without pulling out the unit.
The most common kitchen defect found on condition reports is the opposite: a boiler or extractor wired into the back of a socket or a chocolate block behind the plinth with no accessible isolation. Record what you find and the regulation it falls short of; how to write EICR observations has the format.
Does the sink or pipework need bonding?
Main protective bonding to incoming metallic water, gas and other services is required for the installation as a whole (Regulation 411.3.1.2), sized from Table 54.8 on a PME supply, which is 10 mm² for the common case of a PEN conductor up to 35 mm². A kitchen EICR should confirm it is there, connected within 600 mm of the meter or point of entry, and labelled.
Supplementary bonding is a separate question. Since the 17th Edition in 2008 there has been no general requirement to bond sinks or kitchen pipework. Supplementary bonding is still needed where Regulation 415.2 is used to meet disconnection requirements, and in some Part 7 locations, but a kitchen with RCD protection and main bonding in place needs none. A metal sink is rarely an extraneous-conductive-part anyway. If you are unsure whether pipework is introducing an earth potential, test it to earth; a reading well above the threshold given in IET Guidance Note 8 means it is not extraneous. What is main protective bonding? covers the test and the sizes.
What does Part P mean for kitchen work?
| Kitchen work | England (AD P 2013) | Wales (own regulations since 2014) |
|---|---|---|
| New ring, radial, cooker or hob circuit | Notifiable | Notifiable |
| Consumer unit replacement | Notifiable | Notifiable |
| Adding sockets or an FCU to an existing circuit | Not notifiable | Treated as notifiable by Welsh councils |
| Like-for-like accessory replacement | Not notifiable | Not notifiable |
| Altering the existing lighting circuit | Not notifiable unless a new circuit | Treated as notifiable by Welsh councils |
Notification goes through your competent person scheme (the GOV.UK list for electrical work includes Certsure and NAPIT) or by building notice. Non-notifiable does not mean no paperwork: BS 7671 Chapter 64 still requires an EIC or Minor Works Certificate for every addition or alteration. Our Part P notification guide covers the process.
Which certificate covers a kitchen refit?
A full refit nearly always includes a new circuit, so it needs an Electrical Installation Certificate with a schedule of inspections and a schedule of test results. If you only added sockets or a spur to an existing circuit, a Minor Works Certificate is right, with insulation resistance, protective conductor continuity, polarity, Zs at the new points and an RCD test recorded.
Do not issue a Minor Works for a new cooker circuit because "it's only one circuit"; a new circuit means an EIC. Minor Works: when to use it explains the line.
When a kitchen fitter asks you to "sign off" their wiring, remember you can only certify the design, construction and inspection and testing you actually did. If you did not see the cables go in, the honest document is an EICR on the affected circuits, with limitations recorded, not an EIC carrying your signature in the design box.
What do inspectors find on kitchen EICRs?
Codes below follow the logic of Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 4 (Issue 7.4, August 2026). The final code is always your judgement on the evidence in front of you.
| Finding | Typical code | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sockets with no 30 mA RCD protection | C3, or C2 if they could supply portable equipment used outdoors | Additional protection missing |
| Heat-damaged socket behind a cooker or kettle | C2 | Evidence of overheating |
| Cooker control unit directly above the hob | C3 | Reaching over the hob to operate it |
| Fixed appliance with no means of isolation | C3 | Chapter 46 switching for maintenance |
| Main bonding absent | C2 | Shock risk under fault |
| Borrowed neutral between kitchen and another circuit | C2 | Circuits not isolated; RCDs may trip unexpectedly or not at all |
| Socket closer to the sink than 300 mm, no water ingress | Usually no code | Guidance, not a BS 7671 requirement |
| Earthing or bonding that cannot be verified | FI | On the A4 forms FI is advisory; only C1 and C2 make the report unsatisfactory |
Borrowed neutrals are worth a proper hunt in older kitchens where a second lighting point was taken from a nearby circuit; our borrowed neutrals guide shows how to find them with the IR tester.
How Certio helps
Certio produces the EICR, EIC, Minor Works certificate and PAT records on the BS 7671 model forms and turns them into branded PDFs. Photograph the consumer unit and the circuit schedule drafts itself; point the phone camera at a Megger MFT-X1 and the reading goes straight into the schedule of test results, or dictate it while your hands stay on the probes. Suggested observation wording with the regulation reference is there for you to check and confirm. The judgement stays yours; the typing goes. Starter is £4.99 a month, charged when you sign up.