On 05/11/2020 10:01, NY wrote:
"Jack Harry Teesdale" wrote in message
...
On 04/11/2020 19:49, Dr S Lartius wrote:
A multi-occupier building has, in a communal service cupboard, a
single standard 13A surface-mounted switched socket into which is
plugged a normal-looking plug.

Entering that plug are two different leads connected to two
different items of low-power fixed communal equipment (it is
not easy to see what each of those actually does - or did.

How should that setup be described, on a scale running from
entirely satisfactory to absolutely illegal?


I would say entirely unsatisfactory.

The correct method would be two seperate 13a plugs and a double socket
outlet. As a temporary measure a 2 way adaptor in to the single socket
would not be 'illegal'.

A multiple socket replacing a single socket is no doubt the best, but it
is a *lot* of DIY work to install - chasing out plaster, putting in a
larger backing box, undoing the two thick wires to each terminal and
connecting them to the new multi-socket. I'd say that a multi-way socket
bar on a short trailing lead is the best *pragmatic* solution. I prefer
those over the multi-way cube adaptors because there's less chance of
the weight of the various leads pulling the pins of the adaptor out of
the wall. With any adaptor (cube or socket bar) you need to apply a bit
of common sense: a 3-bar electric fire on each of the four sockets in a
bar is *not* a good idea and hopefully the 13A fuse in the bar will blow
PDQ.

Most of the time, multiple sockets are needed for lots of low-power
wall-wart adaptors rather than heavy power consumers, so the total
current in the cable and the single plug will be well below the 13A limit.

The OP is faced with "a 13A *surface-mounted* switched socket" [emphasis
added] so not such a big job.

If it were a socket in a back box then a converter socket* avoids the
need for a new back box; and in a cupboard is unlikely to be
aesthetically unacceptable. But naturally only to be undertaken by
someone competent and authorised by the building's owner/manager.

*eg
https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-13a-1g-to-2g-switched-converter-socket-white/108cc

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid