Internal wiring for a shed, garage or outbuilding.

[kwikfix328]

with reference to Home domestic , (not industrial or agricultural) installations.

Is it OK to use clipped Twin & Earth cable for the exposed, fixed, internal wiring installation in a shed, garage, or similar garden outbuilding.

I can see that it would be good practice to install conduit, or SWA type cable for these circumstances , but does it state anywhere in the regs that you specifically cannot use plain T&E of the correct rating, securely clipped to wall and/or roof , beween outlets, switches, light fittings, etc.

 

[Spark123]

Is it suitable for the environment? Can the cable get knocked? Is it going to be affected by sunlight? Is it going to be gnawed by rodents?

 

[kwikfix328]

Is it suitable for the environment?

A 4 month old, sound , leak free, dry, secure building.

Can the cable get knocked ?

Hmmm... I suppose anything is possible. If i was particularly clumsy.

Is it going to be affected by sunlight?

One small single window, facing north with no cable in direct sunlight at any time , even with the door open.

Is it going to be gnawed by rodents?

I've never seen , or found evidence of rats at my location in 8 years of living here. There was no evidence of any rodent activity underneath my old shed when i removed it and prepared the base for the new one last Nov.
The only mice I've ever found were dead ones that my two cats occasionaly bring in as nice little presents for us.

Obviously all circuits are protected by a 30ma RCD and correctly rated ( possibly under-rated ) MCB's; namely B6A protecting 2 x short 2.5mm light radial circuits and B20A protecting 4mm socket outlet radial, with 3 double sockets daisy chained closely together.

My old man has some spare 2.5mm SWA knocking about which he said i can have , but not at my home address which is why i din't use it .
Could i use the two cores for L & N and the steel screen as the earth ? all of my fittings are metal clad ?

These are retrospective questions as everything is now installed and working, however i could go back and retro fit the SWA at a later date.

However for the moment, if I'm happy that the envoiroment is good , it isn't going to get knocked ,or damaged, it isn't in direct sunlight and there is no risk of rodent damage than T&E can be used ?

One small annecdote:

My house has a suspended wooden downstairs floor with a hatch to gain access and crawl space. All of the wiring for the downstairs of my house is exposed and routed inside this area and then just popped up into the stud walls where required. The wiring down here is subject to pretty much exactly the same conditions as inside the shed which is why i figured it would be OK to use it.

 

[kwikfix328]

Drove past my local wholesaler today and saw that their retail shop was open on a Saturday afternoon !

As i had to drive past anyway i stopped & Popped in just to see how much some of that rectangular snap together trunking would cost , and 10 minutes later walked out with 6 meters of 25 x 16mm trunking along with a load of bends, angles and end fittings, the whole lot cost less than a £tenner and I'll have stuff left over at that .

I guess my T&E will be getting unclipped and re-installed in plastic conduit tomorrow afternoon... like i should have done in the first place...[shakes head in disgust with himself]

 

[vsynth]

Better safe than sorry, at least you will have peace of mind plus it'll look nicer

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Is it going to be gnawed by rodents?