What height should kitchen worktop sockets be?

Worktop sockets sit a set distance above the worktop surface, which works out to roughly 1,050mm from the finished floor for a standard worktop height. If your worktop is thicker or taller than standard, that figure shifts, so confirm the worktop height before marking sockets on your drawing.

Which kitchen appliances need their own dedicated circuit?

High-power appliances like an electric oven, induction hob and sometimes a boiling tap cannot share a ring main and need a dedicated circuit each from the consumer unit. The number of dedicated circuits decides whether you need a larger consumer unit or a sub-board.

How far should a socket be from a kitchen sink or hob?

The IET guidance recommends a horizontal clearance from a sink as best practice, and gas hobs carry a legal exclusion zone where no electrical accessories are allowed. Induction and ceramic hobs have no gas zone but the IET still advises keeping sockets clear of the hob edge.

Do you need to wire a kitchen island before the screed is poured?

Yes. Power to an island has to run through a floor conduit laid before the screed goes down, because there is no wall to chase a cable into. Forgetting it means either no island power or lifting a finished floor later.

What does your electrician need to know before first fix in a kitchen?

A finalised kitchen layout marked with socket heights, the appliance circuit list, the boiling tap socket location, the island floor conduit route and the under-cabinet lighting cable. Without this they plan around generic assumptions and leave sockets at the wrong height or circuits missing.

Back to Kitchen Extension

Phase 6 · First Fix · Task 05 of 08

Kitchen Electrical Provisions: What to Tell Your Electrician Before First Fix

The full list of kitchen-specific electrical provisions your electrician needs before first fix starts: worktop socket heights, hob and sink clearances, appliance dedicated circuits, Quooker socket, island floor wiring, and under-cabinet lighting.

8 min readUpdated 2026Premium

Grid checklist infographic showing every kitchen-specific electrical provision: worktop sockets at 1,050mm, appliance FCUs at 200mm, induction hob circuit, boiling tap socket, island floor conduit, and under-cabinet LED spur

Prerequisites

Complete these first

Your electrician plans cable runs. Without a kitchen-specific brief, they plan socket positions and circuit sizes around generic assumptions rather than your layout. The result is sockets at the wrong height, dedicated circuits missing, and provisions your kitchen fitter finds are not where they need to be. The electrical layout planning guide covers the general process, socket heights, and the cables-in-screed timing problem. Read that first. Kitchen extensions add several provisions no generic extension requires: the heights to annotate on your drawing for each position type, the appliance circuit list, the Quooker socket, island floor conduit, and under-cabinet lighting cable.

What this guide covers

01Worktop socket heights
02Sink and hob clearances
03Kitchen appliance dedicated circuits
04Boiling water tap: the socket everyone forgets
05Under-cabinet task lighting
06Island wiring: floor conduit before screed
07Coordinate with your plumber
08Put it in writing

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General guidance for homeowners in England (and Wales where we say so), not professional advice. Every site is different: check anything that affects your build with a qualified professional, your local council or building control. Terms

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