An electrician orders a standard BG grid switch to fit a customer's existing continental-style plate, and it doesn't sit right. The mounting centres are wrong, the module is the wrong width, and the plate has to be swapped entirely to make a UK switch fit. The plate was never the problem. It was built for Euro modules, not UK grid.

Two Grid Systems, Not One

The UK has run its own modular switch standard for decades: BG Grid, MK Grid and similar systems use a fixed module width and mounting pattern that's specific to UK plates and back boxes. Euro modules are a separate standard, narrower and built to continental dimensions, used across much of mainland Europe and increasingly specified in the UK on plate ranges designed to a Euro footprint.

The two aren't interchangeable. A Euro module won't physically mount into a UK grid plate's apertures, and a UK grid switch won't seat correctly into a Euro plate's narrower module slots. This matters most on jobs where the plate was chosen first, for a specific look or an architect's spec, and the switch modules have to match whatever standard that plate was built to.

Which Euro Module for Which Job

The BG Euro Module range covers the switching functions most commonly needed on a continental-format plate, from simple intermediate switching to double-pole isolation and key-operated control.

• 10AX intermediate switch, for three-way and multi-point intermediate lighting circuits routed through a Euro-format plate
• 20AX 2-way switch, standard two-way switching in the Euro module format, available in black, white and grey
• 20A DP switch, double-pole isolation for fixed appliances or fan circuits wired through a Euro plate
• 20AX 2-way key switch, restricted access switching where a standard rocker isn't appropriate
• 20AX key switch, emergency lighting test, purpose-built for emergency lighting test points on commercial fit-outs

For the wider question of which BG range to spec on a job, our BG Nexus vs BG Evolve guide covers the standard UK grid options, and our office fit-out spec guide covers switching and socket choices more broadly for commercial jobs where Euro modules often turn up.