garage electrics

[Wozzaaah]

Excellent Dave! I tried every search option but that one, talk about not being able to see the woods for the trees! It appears that the 'regs' aren't actually as strict as I imagined, most seem to rely on common-sense rather than pettiness.

 

[scarecrow]

The only two ways that seem to be recommended is buried and overhead you can run an electric wire supported by a catenary wire over an unlimited span as long as it a minimum of 12 ft. above a pathway or 17 ft. above a driveway
and you must also earth the catenary wire
it probably isn't illegal to attach it to a fence but your insurance company might not pay up if anything goes wrong

 

[Wozzaaah]

I can't see how an insurance company can penalise you if no law has been broken. If an electrician does the work and signs it off then that should be good enough. If i laid 2.5mm T&E along the grass I think they might have something to say about it

 

[scarecrow]

If an electrician does the work and signs off on it there shouldn't be a problem just make sure he is qualified and not just a handyman
some electrician's are idiots to
last summer the guy who lives about 10 miles from me got electrocuted while cutting his hedge he had attached and electrical wire for garden lights to the fence behind the hedge funnily enough he was an electrician

 

[Davek0974]

I can't see how an insurance company can penalise you if no law has been broken. If an electrician does the work and signs it off then that should be good enough. If i laid 2.5mm T&E along the grass I think they might have something to say about it

Exactly. Just make sure he is NIC EIC registered and certified for part P regs. Then you should be good to go.

BTW, I hate catenary wires, bloody ugly, i got my garage rewired just to remove a catenary!

Dave

 

[rusty69bus]

as a side not since someone mentioned t&e. my previous neighbors ran 2.5 t&e at least 4-6 meters down and along the outside of thier house on the drive concerete to run power in the garage to a tumble dryer, it may have been there alot longer than i have been here (5yrs) and it's still there! laying on concrete in all weather, i wonder how long till it shorts

 

[Davek0974]

probably not too long, the UV in sunlight kills standard t&e in good time, it'll be ok until someone moves or bends it or it becomes porous!

Dave

 

[armogedden57]

Burying the cable is just a matter of good practice is the sparky deems there isn't an acceptable alternative. As has been previously mentioned, the regs (except for certain sections which are legally binding) are guidlines to good practice, but as they are a British Standard BS7671 you'd have to have a damn good reason not to follow them if you ended up in court!

just an aside to Davek0974's previous post, makes sure they are part p registered as that is a legal requirement now but NICEIC registration just means you can afford to pay their registration fees, and dont mind them coming round to your customers homes, mabye 9/10mths down the line and examining the whole installaion and the hassle that can bring to your customers.