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Before Planning and Designing your Kitchen.
Dream Kitchens has put the following information together to help you understand the skills required to install a kitchen and the basic requirements to enable the layout to work.
Installation Skills:
Fitting a kitchen requires a great deal of expertise, and even the more advanced DIY′er will have difficulty carrying out an installation to the legal standards required, without outside help. There are a wide range of skills involved, and you will need to have knowledge in the following trades; Carpentry, Plumbing and Tiling, but the Government insists that all Gas and Electrics must now be carried out by a competent qualified tradesman.
Often before a new kitchen is undertaken, we have to repair damaged walls after tiles are removed by re-plastering or skimming walls, repair or replace ceilings, level floors, install new gas and plumbing pipework and install new electrical points. In more involved kitchens walls are removed, beams installed, windows altered or re-sized and doorways and hatches blocked or created.
None of this is for the faint hearted and building skills are essential. If you are thinking of a new kitchen, try and think of the bigger picture before making an impulsive buying decision on a DIY venture that you may regret.
We have listed some of the more common problems that can arise.
Start by asking yourself the following questions -
- The ceiling is cracked and it is artexed, will i be able to repair it?
- What condition are all the walls in, do i need to plaster?
- The floors are unlevel and both timber and concrete, what do i do?
- If i lay a timber or laminated floor, how does that effect appliances?
- Is the lighting adequate, i would like ceiling downlighters?
- I want a gas hob, but how am i to get the gas to the kitchen?
- How am i going to move that radiator which is in the way?
- I need the extractor ducted out, how am i going to do it?
- Have i got enough electrical sockets and supplies to appliances?
- Do I need to add to, or alter any other services?
- Will changing the door hang give me more access?
- Just how good are my tiling skills?
- What other problems am i liable to get?
Don′t forget - At the very least you will require new flooring, new wall tiles, electrical and possibly gas work and most important, at the end of the installation - redecorating.
Gas:
The Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas register in Great Britain and the Isle of Man on 1 April 2009, The Goverment now states that it is compulsory that all Gas installations of any kind must be carried out by a
*Gas Safe* registered engineer. Gas Safe Register is run by Capita Gas Registration and Ancillary Services Limited, a division of Capita Group Plc.
The Gas Safe Register is the official gas registration body for Great Britain (GB) and Isle of Man, appointed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for Great Britain and HSWI for Isle of Man.
The Gas Safe Register has now replaced Corgi as the gas registration body in GB. The HSE carried out a review of gas safety in 2006 which, after consultation with the gas industry, engineers and the public, led to the decision to change to a new gas registration scheme. The contract to run the new scheme was awarded to Capita and they launched Gas Safe Register. The sole focus of the register is on improving gas safety.
What about CORGI, the old gas scheme?
The CORGI gas registration scheme in Great Britain and the Isle of Man ended on 31 March 2009. It is no longer recognised by law as the gas safety register. CORGI is now called ′GAS SAFE′.
Check the Safety of your Gas Appliances
Please download this brochure from the Health and Safety Executive, (HSE)*Gas Appliances - Get them checked, keep them safe.*
Electricity:
The Government have also introduced new rules in England and Wales on 
carrying out electrical work in the home in an effort to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by faulty electrical installations. The changes mean that from 1st January 2005, any person carrying out electrical work in residential dwellings must be competent to do so, as required by Approved electrical document *Part "P"* for Building Regulations.
In addition to being competent, certain areas of electrical work must be either notified to the relevant local authority Building Control Department, or notified through a qualified person, who is registered with the Part P self-certification scheme.
Residual Current Devices (RCD)
The biggest change from the 16th to 17th edition part P, is the Residual Current Device (RCD). The use of RCDs are recognised as a means of providing additional protection in the event of failure of the provision for basic protection, as an additional means of fault protection, and to protect against carelessness by users.
An RCD can detect changes in the correct flow of electric current e.g. when a flex or cable is cut, or an electrical tool or appliance has a fault. When this happens within milliseconds, the RCD automatically disconnects the power supply to all the equipment before you can be electrocuted or any further damage can be done to the faulty item.
Please download this small phamplet supplied by the Electrical Safety Council to explain *RCDs.*
Electrical Earthing and Bonding
If you are having an alteration or addition to your electrical installation, you must check that the earthing and bonding arrangements are up to the required standard. This is because the safety of the new work (however small) will depend on the earthing and bonding installation work.
It is easy to confuse earthing and bonding because of the visual similarities between them. Green-and-yellow colour identification of the protective conductors is used for each. Both are associated with the protection against indirect contact. Bonding is quite distinct from earthing in its purpose, and in many of the requirements that it has to satisfy.
Please download this small phamplet supplied by the Electrical Safety Council to explain both *Earthing and Bonding.*
Gas and Electrical certificates:
Gas safety certificates are issued by Gas Safe registered engineers to confirm that gas appliances are working safely.
After your gas appliance has been installed or serviced, your Gas Safe registered engineer will give you a gas safety certificate. This certificate tells you that the gas appliance is safe and the work meets the safety standards.
It will also tell you when you next need to service the appliance. Getting your appliances serviced every year is vital to its safety and efficiency.
As with Gas Safe, any electrical installation work carried out will give the householder reports and certificates signifying the installation has been carried out safely and correctly. These Declarations of Safety must be kept in the house records.
For a Stress Free Conclusion:
As at todays date, kitchens have not been included in the *Home Information Pack (HIPs)* but there was at one stage a possible overlap with the Home Condition Report (HCR) concerning electrical work and Gas Safe. The government decided to "water down" HIPs by removing the HCR to satisfy the consumer, as they could see it becoming a vote loser.
Although Gas work must be certificated under Gas Safe and electrical work must be according to Part "P" both as a legal requirement, neither are a direct part of the HIPs, but both gas and electrical alterations are examined closely by the buyers solicitors and questions asked when selling or purchasing a house, so they cannot be compromised at all costs.
The new regulations may cause you confusion, so we at Dream Kitchens will take all the stress away from you, by ensuring that you are legally protected. We have our own appointed staff available, to cover both *Gas Safe* and electrical *Part "P"* without you needing to get involved with any red tape.
Measuring:
If possible we prefer to take our own measurements and obtain a concept of the kitchen from useable space to direction of light etc to enable us to recomend the best options, but if you prefer to send or bring us in a drawing please observe the following tips,
Carefully measure up your kitchen in centimetres or millimetres making a precise scaled plan, measure in a clockwise direction, starting from the internal door, noting which direction all the doors open.
Take extra care on checking the following:
- Ensure the kitchen is square, by measuring diagonally if necessary,show any permanent features such as doors and windows including sills,
- Always check dimensions, if in doubt measure it again, remember door and window widths are from the outside edges of the architrave,
- Take the ceiling height at several points particularly at the position of tall and wall units, marking the position on the drawing,
- On a separate sketch carefully mark the location of existing power points, plumbing, gas supply, boilers, air vents, radiators and boilers etc, showing measurements from the end walls and heights from the floor, if gas and/or electrical meters are hidden in a base or wall unit don′t forget to mark it on the drawing,
- Note the space required for your kitchen appliances, if free-standing allow for ventilation and finger gaps on each side for easy removal,
- Finally check as to what the walls and floors are made of, often the heavy quality range cookers are so heavy the floor may need extra bracing to distribute the weight evenly,
Safety First:
There are many safety factors involved in fitting a kitchen: If you choose to install one of our supply only kitchens always check for electrical cables and water pipes, using a pipe and power detector before drilling in to floors or walls. When using power tools always use an RCD protection device, making certain that all power tool leads are in good condition. Always wear safety equipment.
Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
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