Garage Electrics

[BuckRogers]

Hello.

I have a NICEIC registered electrician coming round to do some work, and I'm not sure that what he is proposing is correct. Please could you verify or otherwise for me.

I have a semi-detached house with a garage to which I need power; a light and 2 double sockets. The sockets will be used for small power tools and a fridge-freezer. There is a very small distance of less than 1 metre between house and garage. There is already conduit in place (fore-planned!!) to enable the cable to enter the garage safely.

The electrician tells me that the Consumer Unit is on the wrong side of the house to have a dedicated cable run to the garage, and so he proposes that he runs a cable from an upstairs socket, down the outside wall and into the garage. He proposes to terminate this with a Fused Connection Unit, from which he proposes to run the cables for light and sockets.

I thought that a garage unit was required? Is he merely cutting corners? Is it really OK to leave the grey cable exposed to the elements?

He tells me that no RCD is required in the garage since the existing ring main is already protected. I would have thought that an RCD in the garage was mandatory.

I will try to get another electrician round to get a second opinion, but they do seem terribly busy at the moment !

 

[davelx]

So he's taking a fused spur off an existing 30mA RCD protected ring - I think that's OK.

But there should be a second FCU for the lights as the cable used for them (1.5 I assume) needs a lower rated fuse than the 13A that will be in the first FCU and feeding the sockets which will be run in 2.5.

However, PVC cable is not supposed to be used in direct sunlight, as UV light can cause it to deteriorate. It also becomes brittle at low temps. He could run it in conduit though.

 

[540YMX]

I moved into a new house in July this year and had power & light in the garage put in, the electrical contractors used exactly the same method as you describe and they had the benefit of doing it as part of wiring the whole house so it all seems above board.

 

[BuckRogers]

OK. Thank you for that.

I have insisted on metal-clad sockets, mainly for strength. Should I have the light-switch and also the FCU metal-clad too?

 

[Steve]

Should I have the light-switch and also the FCU metal-clad too?

for the sake of a few quid, why not?

 

[JohnD]

You say there is a conduit in place? Where is it? Do you have concrete floors?

 

[industryspark]

just my opinion of course but it seems a bit of a poor effort to me. without seeing the property its hard to say what the best method is though. i would always prefer running a submain from the CU. then you can have seperate breakers in the garage for lights and sockets.

as i understand it the way he proposes it your lights in the garage will be rcd protected, could be a nuisance if you get a trip caused by the sockets and your suddenly plunged into darkness.

 

[BuckRogers]

JohnD - I put in the conduit when I had the garage erected (it is a concrete prefab). The conduit goes through the wall at ground level. I should say that small gap between the garage and the house is fenced off both from and back, and so no-one will have access to trip over or interfere with the cable.
Industryspark - I agree that it seems a poor show, although I struggle to quantify why! I decided that a spur should be taken, since the Consumer Unit is on the other side of the house, and I do not want my patio disturbed. Also, the quote was substantially greater.

Thank you all indeed for your views, I feel much better informed.

 

[RF Lighting]

It sounds very poor to me.

For a start the grey T&E should not be left exposed as UV will degrade it over time, and a 13A supply is not very much for a garage.