Power point location check
Power points near a cooktop, gas cylinder, vent or sink.
Reads AS/NZS 3000:2018. Tables checked 1 Oct 2026.
Try a job 4
Each job fills in example values. Replace them with your values.
- Check a power point beside a cooktopA socket-outlet 100 mm from the cooktop edge.
- Place a power point near a gas bottleA socket-outlet 1.2 m from an exchange gas cylinder outdoors.
- Check a light near a gas relief ventA light 1 m ahead of a 20 mm gas relief vent.
- Place the cooktop isolating switchThe cooktop switch 600 mm from the cooktop edge.
Inputs
Worked example with the default inputs. The live calculator replaces it when the page loads.
- Country
- New Zealand
- Accessory
- Socket-outlet (power point)
- Near
- A cooktop (open cooking surface)
- Horizontal distance
- 300 mm
- Height above the floor or ground
- 1,100 mm
- Cooking surface height
- 900 mm
- Range hood or cupboard above
- 0 mm
- This is the cooktop switch
- No
This position
Allowed
- Rule
- Cl 4.7.3
- Figure
- Figure 4.17
This result is a design aid. Verify it against the current standard.
Calculation steps
- From the edge of the cooking surface300mm
- Prohibited within150mm
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.3
- Prohibited from900mm
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.3
- Prohibited up to2,500mm
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.3
- Height above the floor1,100mm
- This positionResultAllowed
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.3
About this calculator
How this is calculated
AS/NZS 3000 keeps socket-outlets and switches out of a few places in a kitchen and around gas, and sets one rule near the floor. You pick the accessory, what it is near and the distances. The tool finds the rule, draws its zone and says whether the position is inside it.
Beside a cooktop, no socket-outlet or switch may sit within 150 mm of the edge of an open gas or electric cooking surface. That band runs up from the cooking surface to the range hood, cupboard or ceiling above it, or to 2.5 m above the floor, whichever is lower. The cooktop's own switch must also be near it, in sight, not on the appliance and not reached across the cooking surface. The standard advises within 2 m, so the tool warns beyond that.
Around an outdoor gas cylinder, no ignition source may sit in the hazardous area. It is widest at the base and narrower at the top, 0.5 m above the cylinder, and an in-situ fill cylinder has a larger area than an exchange cylinder. The standard dimensions the base and the top. Between them the tool takes the edge as a straight line, as drawn, and says when a result rests on that reading. A gas relief vent has a zone ahead of it and a smaller one behind, scaled up for a vent over 50 mm. New Zealand adds an indoor cylinder compartment and the zone about a reticulated gas regulator.
Sinks, basins, baths and showers have zones of their own. The tool sends those to the wet area zones tool.
| Step | Table or clause | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Near the floor | Cl 4.4.2.2(b) | How a low socket-outlet is fitted |
| Beside a cooktop | Cl 4.7.3 and Figure 4.17 | The prohibited band beside and above the cooking surface |
| The cooktop switch | Cl 4.7.1 | Where the cooktop's own switch goes |
| An outdoor gas cylinder | Cl 4.18.2.1 and Figure 4.18 | The hazardous area by cylinder type |
| An indoor cylinder | Cl 4.18.3 | No ignition source in the compartment, New Zealand |
| A gas relief vent | Cl 4.18.4 and Figure 4.19 | The exclusion zone by vent size |
| A gas regulator | Cl 4.18.5 and Figure 4.20 | The zone about the riser, New Zealand homes |
Worked examples
- A power point 100 mm from the cooktop edge. The position is Not allowed and fails: it is inside the 150 mm band, below 2.5 m.
- The cooktop switch 600 mm from the edge. The position is Allowed: outside the band, within 2 m and not reached across.
- A power point 1.2 m from a gas bottle, 300 mm up. The position is Not allowed and fails: at that height the hazardous area of an exchange cylinder reaches 1,333 mm. That figure is the straight-line reading between A and B.
- A light 1 m ahead of a gas relief vent. The position is Not allowed and fails: the zone of a 20 mm vent runs 1,500 mm along the discharge.
- A power point beside a kitchen sink. The position is Check in the wet area zones tool. Section 6 sets the zones about the sink.
Limits
The tool checks the rules named here. It does not check the hazardous area classification of Cl 7.7, equipment rated for a Zone 2 area, or the gas fitting standards. It does not set general mounting heights: AS/NZS 3000 sets none outside the rules above and Section 6. Measure on site where a result is close to a boundary.
See also: Power points near a cooktop, gas bottle and sink, Kitchen power points and the cooktop zone and Wet area zones.
Questions
Each answer describes what this tool calculates. The result is a design aid. Verify against the current standard.
How far must a power point be from a cooktop?
No socket-outlet or switch within 150 mm of the edge of an open gas or electric cooking surface. The zone runs from the cooking surface up to the range hood, cupboard or ceiling above, or 2.5 m above the floor, whichever is lower.
How far must a power point be from a gas bottle?
Outside the hazardous area of AS/NZS 3000 Figure 4.18. For an exchange cylinder it reaches 1500 mm at the base and 500 mm at the top, 0.5 m above the cylinder. For an in-situ fill cylinder, 3500 mm and 1500 mm.
How far must a power point be from a sink?
AS/NZS 3000 sets that in Section 6, by zones around the sink or basin. Use the wet area zones tool with the sink selected. This tool covers cooktops, gas and floors.
Where does the cooktop isolating switch go?
Near the cooktop, in sight and easy to reach, but not on the appliance and not where the user reaches across the cooking surface. The standard advises within 2 m. It may not sit in the prohibited zone beside the cooktop.
Can a power point go near the floor?
Yes. Within 75 mm of a floor, it is fitted so the plug pulls out horizontally, unless it is a floor socket-outlet made for that. Wet rooms have their own floor clearance in Section 6.
Clauses and tables this tool reads
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.4.2.2(b)Socket-outlets near a floor
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.1Switch for a cooktop
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.7.3Clearance from a cooktop
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.18.2.1Gas cylinders outdoors
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.18.3Gas cylinders indoors, New Zealand
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.18.4Gas relief vents
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.18.5Reticulated gas regulators, New Zealand
- AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 4.4.2.2, Cl 4.7 and Cl 4.18Where socket-outlets, switches and other accessories may not go: floors, cooktops and gas
Every clause and table, with how each was verified
Tables last checked on 1 Oct 2026.
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