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The Belgian system has imported the hanging-out-of-the-wall-supported-on-its-wiring method of installation and it is actually in quite use widespread now [Linked Image] When I bought this house there were three or four sockets like that, which I re-seated.

They also situate them in pretty alarming places. We have a double socket about
40cm behind the mixer tap of the kitchen sink. I didn't like that at all, so I turned off the mains to it at its circuit breaker and put packing tape over the breaker switch. The sockets quite close to the sinks in the bathrooms are protected by an RCD, but for some reason the kitchen one is not. This was all installed by a "proper" electrician and was inspected before they made the mains connection (it was all rewired by the previous owners of the house, before I bought the place).

The installation in the local park has bunches of mains wires sticking out of the ground with "choc blocks" to connect them together. They are supposed to be for lights, along the borders of the paths, but the whole set of lights was never installed. That park renovation was started three years ago, so if like most Brussels building jobs, they'll finish it in 2007/2008.