Another thread about power to a shed

[Notch7]

I would be taking the earth

When you say “I” you must be referring to the “competent electrician” you intend engaging to carry out the work

 

[EFLImpudence]

I believe the socket from which I am going to take power is on a radial circuit with a 32amp MCB (picture 1).

May we ask what caused you to believe such a thing?

 

[va-it]

4mm no

Replace outside socket, assuming it’s a spur with a ip rated SFCU, the connect outside socket and shed to load side of SFCU,

Thank you, that sounds like a very reasonable arrangement.

When you say “I” you must be referring to the “competent electrician” you intend engaging to carry out the work

Absolutely yes. I assume the work will need to be notified, and I would like to obtain a certificate for it, so I will not be able to do it on my own anyway. What I would like to do is dig the trench for the SWA and, perhaps, attach all the conduits, sockets and switches to the walls of the shed. I would then leave the actual cabling to the electrician.

May we ask what caused you to believe such a thing?

When the house was being built, I had a look at the cabling in the consumer unit, and that was the impression I got at the time. Perhaps I saw things in an unfinished state, or I was simply wrong.
Anyway, last night I found the electrical installation certificate (circuit_details), and the size of the cables confirms its nature. I should have looked for it sooner before posting misleading information and looking like a fool.

So, to recap (again, please correct me if I am wrong, although this is just so that I can go to an electrician with an idea of what needs to be done):

If the outside socket is part of the ring, then I would be in a similar situation as the one in this video.

This way, "I" could run the 2.5mm SWA cable from the socket to the shed, and from there a 13amp fused connection unit before all the sockets. Another FCU, this time with a switch, would allow me to have lighting as well. (Diagram 1)

If the outside socket is already a spur, then maybe the least invasive way would be the one suggested by @Murdochcat, and so "I" would replace the outside socket with an IP-rated FCU, then connect the outside socket to that, and from there a 2.5mm SWA cable to the shed. Inside the shed, I would only need one 3amp switched FCU for the light, whilst the sockets are fine as is. (Diagram 2)

Sounds right?

Thanks again to everyone

 

[Murdochcat]

Do NOTHING until you have located a local spark to work with ............

 

[Notch7]

If the outside socket is already a spur, then maybe the least invasive way would be the one suggested by @Murdochcat, and so "I" would replace the outside socket with an IP-rated FCU, then connect the outside socket to that, and from there a 2.5mm SWA cable to the shed. Inside the shed, I would only need one 3amp switched FCU for the light, whilst the sockets are fine as is.

This is the most likely scenario / solution

I would say most outside sockets are spurs off a socket that’s part of a ring….usually the hole goes out the wall behind the socket, then outside either straight into the socket, ot surface mounted cable to a suitable location.


This is very wise advice:

Do NOTHING until you have located a local spark to work with ............

And don’t tell the electrician how you think it should be done…..tradesmen don’t like being told how they should do it. The way to get them onside is to say “I was hoping to take the power from that external socket, then have a socket and light in my shed” Then let them explain to you how they would do it.

You may feel perfectly confident to do it all including terminating the wires, but my guess is an electrician would not accept that, however they would probably be happy if you asked if you could do the first fix: IE bury the cables in the ground and put up the socket back box and light….with wires running and looped out ready, but leave all connections to electrician. In theory that should be a nice easy stress free job for a sparky with no donkey work to do, even better if you could let him be flexible on dates so he could pop over after a short day

 

[Taylortwocities]

Take this advice

Do NOTHING until you have located a local spark to work with ............

The work, as proposed, is not notifiable as it is an addition to an existing circuit.

BUT, on completion, your electrician will need to provide a certificate that says that the DESIGN, INSTALLATION and TESTING work that HE (SHE) has done conforms to BS7671 (The Wiring Regulations). You must get them in at the start and they can approve your plan and tell you what (if any) of the work you could undertake.

All competent tradespeople are booked 130%, and they will turn their backs on the random call from a DIYer that says "I've done this work, could you just sign it off". There's much better ways to earn a crust.

PS In all my time as a spark, almost any job where the customer either did some work, or bought some products - perhaps in thought that they will save some money - has cost the customer more, because it takes time to re-engineer something and/or the product doesn't conform, or isnt suitable.

 

[Murdochcat]

The red flag for me was somebody telling me how to do it, with which products clasping a shed brochure

And anybody calling me asking me to sign off their work got laughed at

 

[va-it]

Thank you very much for the helpful answers, and I agree 100% with you.

I am also a professional, although in a different line of work, and I know what it means to be told how to do something that I have been doing for a very long time.

I will approach potential electricians and ask them beforehand if and what I can do to save them annoying work. I suspect no electrician likes to dig trenches for SWA cables, so I hope that my offer will be met positively.

Thanks again, and I think this post can be considered resolved (if such a thing exists on this forum, I couldn't find it in the Forum Rules).