Home › Building regulations › Kitchens

Kitchen Building Regulations UK: What a New Kitchen Needs Signed Off, and What It Does Not

Kitchen regulations in the UK catch fewer projects than most people expect. Replacing units, worktops, a sink and appliances in the same positions does not need building regulations approval. The rules start to apply when a refit touches the services behind the cabinets: a new electrical circuit, gas pipework, an extractor fan, drainage, or a wall that holds something up. This page goes through each part of a kitchen in turn, shows which approved document applies, and says who can sign it off. It covers England; Wales and Scotland have similar rules with their own guidance.

Which parts of a kitchen refit are regulated

Electrics: Part P and the sink

Kitchens are not special locations under Part P of the Building Regulations, unlike bathrooms. That means adding a socket, a spur or a light fitting to an existing kitchen circuit is not notifiable, although it still has to be done safely to the wiring regulations, BS 7671. Work that is notifiable in a kitchen includes:

• a new circuit, such as a dedicated radial for an induction hob or an electric oven;
• replacing the consumer unit;
• any electrical work in a kitchen that is also a special location, for example a room containing a shower.

Use an electrician registered with a competent person scheme, who can self-certify the work and notify building control for you; you then receive a compliance certificate. Keep it: a buyer's solicitor will ask for it.

There is no fixed regulatory distance between a socket and a kitchen sink. The common guidance is at least 300mm measured horizontally from the edge of the sink, and the socket should be placed where it cannot be splashed. Sockets for built-in appliances should be reachable or switched from an accessible fused spur, so the appliance can be isolated without pulling it out. Our page on socket height regulations covers the 450mm to 1200mm range for new homes, and kitchen dimensions and clearances gives the working distances between units.

Ventilation: the extractor fan

Approved Document F sets the minimum extract rates for a kitchen in a dwelling:

• 30 litres a second for a cooker hood extracting to outside;
• 60 litres a second for an intermittent extract fan elsewhere in the kitchen, such as a wall or ceiling fan;
• 13 litres a second for a continuous extract system on its normal setting.

A recirculating hood filters grease and smells but does not remove moisture, so it does not count as extract ventilation. If the kitchen has no other extract, you will need a ducted hood or a separate fan. Replacing an existing extract fan with a new one that meets these rates is a routine job; fitting a fan where there was none, or relying on a recirculating hood instead of a removed fan, needs more thought. A new edition of Approved Document F takes effect on 24 March 2027; our extractor fan regulations page tracks the details.

Gas: hobs, cookers and boilers

Any work on a gas fitting, including connecting or moving a gas hob, must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. That is the law under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, not only a building regulations matter. The engineer checks the installation, follows the manufacturer's clearances to side walls, shelves and the cooker hood, and notifies building control through the scheme. Our page on gas hob regulations goes through the clearances and ventilation in detail. If a boiler is in the kitchen and moves as part of the refit, the same applies, and its flue position is regulated too.

Drainage: moving the sink

Moving the sink or dishwasher a short distance along the same run of waste pipe is normally just plumbing. Creating a new connection to the drains, adding a new soil or waste stack, or running a waste pipe a long way to reach a drain brings in Part H, and you should involve building control. Waste pipes need the right fall and size, and a trap with a water seal so drain smells cannot come back into the room. If you are in a flat, check the lease too, since the freeholder usually controls the communal drainage.

Walls, layout and fire safety

Knocking a kitchen through to a dining room is the most common way a kitchen project becomes a building control job. A load-bearing wall needs a structural engineer's calculations for the steel or beam that replaces it, and building control approval before work starts; see removing a load-bearing wall. In a house of three or more storeys, opening the kitchen onto the hallway can affect the protected escape route from upper floors, which is why open-plan kitchen fire regulations often require sprinklers or an alternative escape.

How to get it signed off

1. List the services work in the refit: electrics, gas, extraction, drainage, structure.
2. Use registered trades for electrics and gas so they can self-certify.
3. Apply to building control for anything that is not self-certified, such as structural or drainage work, before work starts.
4. Collect the certificates: electrical installation certificate, Part P notification, Gas Safe certificate and building control completion certificate.
5. Check other consents. Listed buildings need listed building consent for many internal changes, and leaseholders usually need the freeholder's consent.

Planning a full kitchen redesign? Our guide on how to design a kitchen covers layout and materials, and Vertigo Interiors can manage the trades and the paperwork together.

Sources: Approved Documents F, H, J and P (GOV.UK); the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; BS 7671. This page is general guidance for England; check with your building control body for your project.