What order should kitchen appliances be installed in?

What to sort out before a single appliance arrives

Before any appliance is delivered, the rough plumbing and electrics need to be finished to the point where pipes and cables come out of the wall or floor exactly where the kitchen plan says they should. This includes the water feed and drain for the sink and dishwasher, the extractor duct if there is one, and dedicated circuits for the hob, oven and fridge.

This is also the stage to decide, in writing, where every appliance sits and what size it is, because cabinet makers and worktop fabricators will work from those measurements and will not easily change them later. A kitchen plan drawn up after the appliances are chosen goes much more smoothly than one drawn up before.

What the cabinets and worktop take their measurements from

Built-in ovens, hobs, dishwashers, fridges and microwaves all have a standard cut-out width and height, but they are not identical across brands, so the actual appliance, or at least its exact model number and installation manual, needs to be chosen before the cabinet carcasses are ordered. Ordering cabinets first and hoping an appliance will fit is a common source of delay.

The worktop is cut with a hole for the hob and sink, so the fabricator needs the hob's exact footprint and the sink's mounting template before cutting, not an approximate size. For a stone or solid-surface worktop this template is usually taken on site after the cabinets are fixed but before the worktop is manufactured.

Which appliance goes in first

Once the carcasses are fixed to the wall and floor, the built-under appliances go in before the worktop is lowered onto them: the dishwasher, the built-in oven if it sits under a hob rather than at height, and the undercounter fridge. These need their final connections made and checked for level while there is still open access from above.

The worktop then goes on, followed by the hob and sink, which drop into their cut-outs from above and are sealed and connected in place. An oven housed in a tall cabinet, an extractor hood, and a freestanding fridge freezer can go in last, since none of them depend on the worktop being in position.

The most common mistake that upsets the whole order

The mistake we see most often is buying appliances after the cabinets are already ordered, on the assumption that a standard 60 cm gap will suit any dishwasher or oven. Depth, door clearance and connection points vary enough between models that a unit bought late can need the cabinet reworked, or force a compromise the owner did not choose.

The fix is simple in principle: settle on the appliance models before the cabinet order goes in, even if delivery of the appliances themselves is arranged for later. A supplier's installation drawing, kept with the kitchen plan, is worth more at this stage than a showroom visit.

What you can do yourself and where to call in a tradesman

Fitting a freestanding fridge freezer, dropping in a slide-in hob that only needs a plug, or connecting a dishwasher's hoses to fittings that are already in place are all reasonable jobs for someone comfortable with basic tools, given the manual and a spirit level.

Anything that involves a new electrical circuit, connecting a hob or oven that draws on its own dedicated supply, or work near existing wiring should go to a qualified electrician; this is not a place to improvise. We do not touch gas work or load-bearing walls, and a job that reaches either needs a specialist in that trade.

Where several appliances have to land in the same week, alongside cabinets, worktop and plumbing, it is often more practical to have one team fit the appliances as the cabinets go in, rather than juggling separate visits.

• Freestanding fridge freezer or freestanding cooker: usually fine to do yourself
• Dishwasher or washing machine onto existing hoses: reasonable for a confident DIYer
• Hob or built-in oven needing a new circuit: qualified electrician
• Extractor hood ducted through an external wall: worth having fitted alongside the ducting work
• Sink and worktop cut-outs: done by the worktop fabricator, not a DIY job

How long the whole job takes

For a full kitchen, allow a working day for the built-under appliances once the cabinets are fixed, a separate day once the worktop is in for the hob, sink and any last connections, and an hour or two at the end for freestanding pieces and the extractor hood. Delays are almost always waiting for parts or for the worktop template, not the fitting itself.

Appliance installation on its own starts from 55 € per job, and a full kitchen installation, cabinets and appliances together, starts from 600 € per job, both as a fixed quote once we have seen the plan or photos. Booking one team for the whole sequence tends to save more time than it costs.