capping cables

[citybluesmith]

hi .today i have just finished re wiring a house.i asked a more experienced spark to come and have a look and check it for me.he said that i needed to cap all my cables.i have checked the regs and my cables are ok due to being in zones.is he right ? cheers

 

[SirKit Breaker]

There is no need to cap unless it is in steel for a reason, it is good practice to cap in plastic and can make future cable replacement easier. But it is only there to protect the cables from the dreaded plasterer and his float. I chase them in and clip to the wall and slap a bit of bonding plaster in to keep them out of trouble,unless the spec says fit capping.

Cheers........Howard

 

[johnboy6083]

cables are only capped to stiop them beinmg damaged by the plasterers trowel. think about it, caopping is fixed down with nails, so its not going to offer any protection from drills ect. theres no regulation saying they have to be capped, but its good practice. in chases where only the chase is to be filled, (the rest of the wall is already plastered) i dont bother with capping, but others probably will.

 

[telectrix]

had a building inspector last year, refused to pass a job where cables were clipped. and that was a job where all the walls were to be dry lined. i asked him to quote the regulation ( either electrical or building regs) which stated they had to be capped. after phoning his office he went off with the hump. different guy the next day said " no problem"

 

[citybluesmith]

thanks

 

[rocker]

I like to use oval - I've had plasterers damage cables and not mention it, and then when it's all plastered and finished and you do your second fix, it's YOUR bloody fault and you have to pay for it to be sorted. Also, it looks much tidier, if there IS a problem tou can pull through new cables, and you can get away with a clip in the top, a clip in the bottom, and everythings nice and neat.

I used to use top hat but I always managed to get it all twisted and rubbish, always thought it looked ruff in the jungle. Also, you need really wide chases.

However, back to the question, no there's no reg saying you should, ALSO being directly plastered will give it a higher current carrying capacity.

 

[millwall ken]

I like to use oval - I've had plasterers damage cables and not mention it, and then when it's all plastered and finished and you do your second fix, it's YOUR bloody fault and you have to pay for it to be sorted. Also, it looks much tidier, if there IS a problem tou can pull through new cables, and you can get away with a clip in the top, a clip in the bottom, and everythings nice and neat.

I used to use top hat but I always managed to get it all twisted and rubbish, always thought it looked ruff in the jungle. Also, you need really wide chases.

However, back to the question, no there's no reg saying you should, ALSO being directly plastered will give it a higher current carrying capacity.

Hence the reason that I was taught to ALWAYS do a continuity and IR test, after first fix, and before you do your second fix mate.

 

[DaveyD]

had a building inspector last year, refused to pass a job where cables were clipped. and that was a job where all the walls were to be dry lined. i asked him to quote the regulation ( either electrical or building regs) which stated they had to be capped. after phoning his office he went off with the hump. different guy the next day said " no problem"

Love it!

 

[rapier]

I aways cap my work up new builds or re wires, in my opinion i just looks tidy and a good job done.

 

[Penance]

Does it matter what it looks like if it is going to be plastered over?

I clip on put some bonding plaster over it to hold it in place and give some protection.

 

[Smugley]

Bit excessive I know but lately I've been using 20mm conduit and female connectors into the backboxes. It looks really neat and makes the circuit easy to modify later if you need to add a socket, additional switchwire, spur or whatever, or like mentioned above, you have to do a last minute repair to a damaged cable. Used to use oval and grommets but never liked the way the flat conduit doesn't line up with the round knockout.

 

[Engineer54]

I prefer your way of using conduit and connectors to, for the very reasons you have explained here...

 

[sparky3366]

When I was in Northern Ireland, all wiring was in plastic 20/25mm conduit...it made 1st fix a bit like hard work but was better in the long run.

 

[Colin Integrale]

We cap all our cables, it's definitely peace of mind like people have said about protection from plasterers etc.

Also, my NVQ man said the main reason for capping is in fact to give the cables a bit of air for heat loss... I never knew that.

 

[andyb]

Hence the reason that I was taught to ALWAYS do a continuity and IR test, after first fix, and before you do your second fix mate.

How can you carry out these tests before 2nd fixing?