On 05/11/2020 14:39, John Rumm wrote:
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?

Somewhere between the two. Its not ideal, but certainly not illegal.

A fire investigator would take a dim view of it though if there was a
fire that appeared to have started inside that cupboard.

Not being able to see it, I can only guess, but assuming the cables are
relatively thin and so can be adequately terminated in the single set of
terminals, and also the cord grip can function on both, then there is no
immediate risk.

Might be worth taking it apart to have a look inside.

There is a possibility if the public has access to it that the fuse has
been wrapped in Kitkat foil because it kept on blowing. I'd certainly
want to see inside it once I was aware that it existed.

The last time I saw something similar was the church's Xmas tree lights
for their somewhat oversized tree. Two sets wired into one plug.

You could try leaving it unplugged to see what if anything stops
working. It could be for some long since redundant legacy kit.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown