A new construction project always comes with a problem or two and our new project in Brookmans Park has been no exception. The team at JB Carpentry Plus LTD is devoted to ensuring a safe and beautiful environment for all customers and as we begin works on any property, you're almost guaranteed to find some issues! Unfortunately, many builders have cut corners over the years to make their own lives simple - but at what cost? We believe that everyone should feel safe in their own home and so we always make sure every job we do is completed to the highest possible standards whilst making no effort to bend the law. Safety regulations are there for a reason!
On day one of our latest project in Brookmans Park, kitchen units and appliances needed to be moved in order to create the space needed for demolition work. The customer has an integrated oven fitted into a unit that had to be moved. These high powered appliances require a certain thickness of cable to avoid overheating and causing fires. The thicker the cable, the more power you can run through it without causing anything to over-heat. We noticed straight away that the oven was powered by 6mm cable from appliance to a fused spur at the rear of the unit which is suitable, however the cable running from the fused spur connection to the wall was only 4mm - not thick enough to safely power the oven! This had caused visible burns where the cable comes into contact with the plastic boxes. These high powered appliances, ovens in particular, should be wired into a fused spur with an isolation switch, the cable from there should run directly to the main fuse board using a sufficiently thick cable from the appliance all the way to fuse board. Anything less than this is a major fire risk and very bad practice! This unfortunately was not the case for our customer - the cable running from the fused spur is connected to the circuit powering all sockets in the kitchen and not to the fuse board. We were very concerned about this and so was the customer, but they can rest assured knowing that once this oven is re-installed, the wiring will also be fitted as it should thanks to our highly skilled and fully qualified electrical team!
The pictures below show how the oven was fitted and how the insufficient 4mm cable caused burns to the plastic.
