cable in the garden

[happyhero]

Hi Can anybody tell me if I wanted to run mains cable in the garden possibly to mains garden lights, how would you do it?

Would you use small armoured and bury it in the ground, i.e. is that the safe and correct way to do it? I would like to avoid running any conduit if possible. Or do you need a certain cable to be able to bury it?

If it is the right cable ie armoured if thats the one, can you just put it below the surface out of sight or do you have to go down a certain amount?

All help appreciated.

 

[sparkacus]

I suggest that you check out Part P building regs before you even attempt this. In simple terms - where there is the possibility of water (bathroom, kitchen, garden etc.) you need to hold a Part P certification to do the work. You would become liable for all work done & if an accident occurred you would be held responsible and very likely summoned before the courts!! Speak to a suitably qualified electrician first.

 

[happyhero]

I suggest that you check out Part P building regs before you even attempt this. In simple terms - where there is the possibility of water (bathroom, kitchen, garden etc.) you need to hold a Part P certification to do the work. You would become liable for all work done & if an accident occurred you would be held responsible and very likely summoned before the courts!! Speak to a suitably qualified electrician first.

Hi I appreciate what your saying and I know about part P. I was actually an electrician myself until I retired but my experience was only within a single building most of the time doing building services, so I am a bit rusty now and don't really have that much experience on garden electrics. I only did a few rewires in houses with someone more experienced nothing outside.

So as I am not that well off I was thinking of doing the work myself and then calling on an electrician to test and certificate it. A current electrician told me this was ok to do.

Basically I am aware of most of the concerns regarding this but need some guidance.

 

[sparkacus]

From what I can remember of the top of my head! I think the depth for swa cable to be buried is 450mm (45cm). If you can get a copy of BS7671 (Wiring Requirements) I am pretty sure you will find your answer within.

 

[sparky40]

Armoured cable is the correct cable to use, size will depend on various things including;
circuits protective device
circuits loading (total)
length of run.

Making sure the circuit is protected by an R.C.D, and is taped along its buried length at a depth 'sufficiently deep enough to avoid being damaged by any foreseeable disturbance of the ground'

 

[happyhero]

As the cable is armored, is there no circumstance where by which you may run the cable surface, say at the back of a flower border, if not on the ground, maybe clipped to the fence at very low level. As it is over 10 m (2 runs to do of 10 meters either side of garden and 2 circuits) digging a trench will be quite a lot of work, so avoiding this would be preferable.

 

[coloumb]

There is no actual regulation to say you can't run it along a fence, although the cable does have to be protected so SWA is the way to go. Also, the fence does not have to be of "substantial structure", so it can be wooden.

There is, however, guidance to say that outside lighting must be fixed to a "substantial structure" such as a brick wall etc.

 

[Adam_151]

I suggest that you check out Part P building regs before you even attempt this.

I would echo this advice

In simple terms - where there is the possibility of water (bathroom, kitchen, garden etc.) you need to hold a Part P certification to do the work.

Oh dear, I think you too, need to check out part P of the building regs before you give out incorrect information, and when you have done that, perhaps you can tell me which bit of it says you have to be registered on a self cert scheme (well I'm presuming this is what you are implying by the term "part p certification")

You would become liable for all work done & if an accident occurred you would be held responsible and very likely summoned before the courts!!

That would be the case, part p or no part P

Speak to a suitably qualified electrician first.

I hope you are not planning on going onto imply that he should only ask advise from those who are registed for a scheme....

@OP

So as I am not that well off I was thinking of doing the work myself and then calling on an electrician to test and certificate it. A current electrician told me this was ok to do.

I'm afraid you have been ill advised, you should notify the council before you start the work, it is upto them to satisfy themselves that you have done the job safely, they may however request you you provide a cert for your work (do you have access to test equipment, maybe from a mate at your old place of employment?)

However, you might just be able to find an electrician who will sign your work off as his own, not everyone follows the rules...[/quote]