Garden lighting

The whole issue seem confusing to me.
Most regulations are I find.

Who Writes this rubbish. :D

 

These regulations, at the end of the day, are all about safety, which I am all in favour of
However ... the very basic cr*p which is now written into Health and Safety law I find most irritating ... how on earth some little Civil Servant has ever thought that such simplistic obvious basic common sense logic should in fact be reduced to what amounts to enforceable legislation defeats my own logic
I wouldn't dream of digging a trench to bury armoured cable for example. A spade 6 or 8 inches into the ground makes a perfect incision, and my lawnmower has yet to cut the grass 6 inches underground
Common sense tells us what is safe and what is not
If someone wants to do something that is not safe he will do it anyway, regulations or not
Only a personal opinion from someone who has always considered safety as a first priority in everything I have done

 

I agree with that, the more they legislate the more expensive things become and the more bad jobs that get done.

For the record when I replaced the bathroom I did the new wiring (Extractor, lights and shower) myself. Technically illdegal under part P but it would have to be proved the work was done post part p.

The last suposed proper electrician to work on the house almost casused a fire as he rushed changing the consumer unit and didnt tighten the live terminal!

 

I too agree. My insurance company has just refused to renew the household policy until I take down my art-deco ceiling lights. They were re put up by professional electricians 8 years ago. I had the house re-wired at that point because the lighting circuit was old and, I think. unearthed. The insurance inspected at the time - no problem. But apparently the rules have changed. We not only have a nanny state now but also nanny businesses as well. The insurance companies don't want any risk at all. Not even .000000001% (or as my electrician says 0%) in case they have to pay.

 

I had to have the house rewired just because I needed just one socket replaced. The amoured cable now runs under a patio and rules dictate it must be fitted by the 'book' which my sparky is forever having to pass exams to read and even buy. And the testing equipment he needs costs hundreds of quid,all passed on to us poor customers!

 

I am going to state a fact or two.

You are not allowed secure a cable to a fence. (it's not considered a solid / permanent structure (or something like that)

Its usually easy to tell when something has been added after part P. The cable colours changed. You then have to put a sticker on the consumers unit stating this is the case.

You have to bury armoured cable around 24 - 30 inches to avoid spades etc, not lawnmowers. The argument is you know where the cable is, but any one working in the garden doesn't.

Say you sell the house?

All that said, what you actually do is your choice.

The reason I actually came back to this was not to state facts, but to post pics, so here goes.



Here are my string lights (This morning)



Here they are about 10 minutes ago

Although only 15 watts each with 10 of them you can easily see to open a bottle of......

 

And very nice they are too!

 

You still can buy cable with the old coulors and its cheaper :D Also the harmonised coulors were on sale before part p.

In any case I cant in all honesty see a house surveyer taking off every junction box cover to check.

I think withregards compliance with the regs thing depend on how mutch of a stickler the spark is. As I said the one who did the electric for the pond I did was perfectly happy to secure the cable to the fence and sudgested it he also sighned some certificate thing for the customer.

 

There is a building site in my local park.
The contractors have run armoured cable for a distance if about 100yds along the top of the metal site fencing to a small hut used by the security people.
Its in full view and acsessable to the puplic, they have even buried it about a couple of inches below the surface where it crosses a dirt pathway.
I know its tempory, probably 6 months or so, but it does seem a bit dangerous to me.
But it is armoured, and I thought that was the reason for using armoured cable, if not then you may as well just use ordinary cable in a conduit, surely?

Where I work there is all kinds of aroured cable just fixed to walls etc. Mostly 3 phase 415 volt stuff.

 

The cable colours changed to confuse us little people who had learned all the earlier changes
Quite frankly they are now an absurdity ... no logic to the change other than to satisy somebody in Brussels
Armoured cable is armoured to protect it from spades
When I sell my house I have a plan of the cabling with the deeds
Common sense will tell anybody whether or not their fence is safe enough to attach a cable to
Don't forget ... that cable is in normal circumstances not live until switched on from the house

 

I am only stating facts, I don't want to argue over it.

It depends on how much you pay for the survey. Officially the surveyor can not do it, he has to get an electrician in. So it depends on how thorough the electrician is.

Many years back my uncle was selling his house, surveyor spent all day there, couple of hours in the garden with binoculars, the person never brought the house. He never did find out why.

Temporary means you can fix it where you like. But all other aspects must still be considered, i.e., cable size, fuse / mcb size, current draw, etc.

Question is how long is temporary?

SWA cable is quicker to install than conduit and so cheaper in the long run (saves on labour)

Cable is supposed to be fixed to permanent "things", walls are one such permanent "thing"

 

Whis4ey these rules are made to protect people who have no common sense and lots of people fall into that category, you only had to look at some of the outside christmas lighting some people installed,power leads trailing everywhere even transfomers outside,you cann't have everyone doing their own thing,common sense tells people that they shouldn't break the speed limits on the roads,thousands do everyday often with tragic consequences.

 

Originally posted by Walnut:

Not 100% convinced of that Walnut. People with no common sense do the work themselves and totally ignore the rules. I think it is more pressure from trade organisations to ensure that only their members can legally do the work, and the insurance companies and banks who have a nice 'out' if some idiot does it wrong.

My electrician tells me that his professional body is looking at the possibility of making it illegal for people to change their own light bulbs on hard wired circuits in domestic premises once the new energy saving bulb rules come in.

 

WG...... I am not arguing with what you say .... I am disagreeing with the need for so many regulations in our lives today. We now live in what must be the most regulated society in the world
I well remember some 30 years ago when I was studying Constitutional Law the big play that was made about our British Constitution and how it was the best in the world and extolling the virtues of the benefits and freedoms we all had and enjoyed
Those freedoms have been viciously eroded over those 30 years
Law, medicine, accountancy, dentistry, electrical, plumbing, banking etc etc are all now regulated to choking point. It is now no longer even a possibility to get through one day without breaking some obscure regulation somewhere. And when those regulations are, in fact, totally unenforceable one has to question their existance in the first place
In spite of all the regulations in relation to money laundering and proceeds of crime etc the crooks are still crooks
In spite of all the regulations about electrical safety for example the chap with no common sense will still have no common sense (in answer to Walnut )
But ... when you DO have common sense you have no need of all these regulations
It may well be that you are not yet old enough to join the 'Grumpy old men' club :D :D

 

One bit of counter-productivity to come of regulations I find is, that they tend to put the cost of having the job done, up.
Usually the tradesman has to take courses or whatever to gain extra certificates or qualifications, which usually cost the earth at some goverment run establishment.
The cost is then passed onto the customer, who thinks, "thats a bit pricey, I'll have a go myself"
Thinking mainly of the corgi gas thing.