Socket to ‘em

How annoying is that? You've just spent £250 000 on a luxury pad, only to find that no matter how you arrange your furniture, there simply aren't enough electrical socket outlets in any of the rooms. Out come the extension leads, and in come a host of safety problems.

This all-too-common scenario isn't just found among the nation's older housing stock. Many new homes also fall well short of anything like enough outlets for the ever-growing number of entertainment systems and domestic appliances found in the modern property.

The Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA) feels that it is time that guidance in this area was updated. It currently has a report out for comment, Adequate provision of electrical socket outlets in the home, that calls for a dramatic rise in the number of outlets that should be installed (table 1, overleaf).

Why has the issue become such a big problem? The ECA's head of technical services Guiliano Digilio lays the blame on the shoulders of the house-builders: "Builders are still putting in the bare minimum. Over 50% of installations in new housing are believed to have socket outlet additions during the first 12 months, indicating a need for more outlets and/or better positioning of them at the initial installation stage. It will always cost less for these facilities to be provided in a new building than for them to be added at a later date."

Costly custom

It is crazy that housebuilders are not prepared to spend relatively small sums in new housing that will save homeowners cost and hassle in the future. "For local authority dwellings, the percentage of the total cost of building a house that is devoted to the electrical installations is not generally more than 5%," explains Digilio. "It is clear that to provide for the additional electrical installation advocated in our report would require only a very small increase in the construction cost."

Unfortunately there are no regulations that stipulate minimum requirements. Builders take their lead from the advice given by the National House-Building Council (NHBC), which sets standards for new and refurbished homes in the UK. Yet the NHBC guidelines are often not followed and even when they are, they are woefully inadequate.

The ECA is not the only trade body that has been lobbying for change. A recent report by the Copper Development Association attacked the NHBC guidance. It surveyed people who had moved into new two, three or four-bedroom houses two years earlier. Although less than a third of the homeowners questioned had thought about the number of socket outlets when they bought their homes, two years later all the respondents wanted more sockets. The CDA calls for around three times more outlets than the NHBC.

The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) has taken on board these findings in its Guidance Note 1 (GN1) on the Wiring Regulations, Selection and erection of equipment; for the first time, this includes figures for the number of sockets that should be installed.

More discerning developers will offer customers the chance to upgrade socket provision. It is the cheaper end of the market and local authority housing where builders are likely to cut corners in order to save costs. The problem is simply transferred to the homeowner, who is unlikely to want to mess up their lovely new house by upgrading the number of socket outlets, at least not until major home improvements are planned.

Where are they?

It is not just the number of socket outlets that is important. "If outlets are not conveniently placed, they will not be used," says Digilio. "Also, unless they are reasonably placed along the wall and located on several walls in the room, the danger of trailing flexes will not be removed." According to the government's General Household Survey, 35% of families move house every five years or less and a further 23% move house at intervals of less than ten years. Different families will opt for different living arrangements and socket outlets should allow for flexibility. "It is common to find that in every home there is at least one socket outlet in the living area that is unusable due to furniture being placed in front of it, and this frequently happens in bedrooms as well," says Digilio.

With ownership of DVD players, computers and home entertainment systems rising each year, this is not a problem that is going away in a hurry. Indeed, Digilio predicts that it is about to get a lot worse. "The ECA anticipates a demand for more socket outlets due to the Powerline Communications Project that is currently being piloted throughout Europe." Powerline is a technology that allows voice, data, command and control signals to be transmitted over the existing electrical cables in the home. The EU has pumped 30 million euro into its OPERA project aimed at developing Powerline technology including broadband services. In the USA, the Bush administration has decreed that all homes must have broadband via Powerline by 2007.

Clearly, we have a growing demand for electrical and electronic goods. The lack of outlets in our homes is forcing homeowners to resort to extension leads. These can easily become overloaded and they also present a trip hazard. The ECA's report is currently under discussion at the Electrical Installation Industry Liaison Committee and it could be adopted as a guidance document. Let's hope the housebuilders get to see it.