In article ,
"Jim" writes:
OK, wife still hasn't made up her mind what kitchen units she wants and is
now talking about dragging me down to Ikea (I must have been very evil in a
past life) A quick look through previous post highlights the fact that Ikea
units do not have much clearance behind them for pipework etc. Can someone
clarify exactly how tight this clearance is as this option may be a no go
from the outset.

None.
If you are planning on an IKEA kitchen, you need to get pipework
run at skirting level so it's below the cupboard bases. Another
option is to not fit the cupboard backs, but then you need to be
careful installing the cupboards to ensure they are not subject
to any parallelogram deformation (and you should prepare and
paint the wall behind the cupboards before fitting, if you care
about the insides of the cupboards that much). Yet another option
is space the cupboards away from the wall using battens -- this
would be excellent if you happened to want a deeper worktop.

--
Andrew Gabriel