refurb on a shop with a flats above

[nakbub]

Doing a refurb on a shop with a flats above it. The customer has had a suspended fire rated ceiling fitted under the existing ceiling in the shop. At present the shop lights circuit starts in the basement then goes straight up though the shop and in to the floor of the flat above where it currently supplies the existing shop lights. Now I have only recently qualified and the question / dispute I am having with the ceiling fitters is that they say that under the new 17th edition this is no longer allowed the cable can not go in the flat floor and through the existing ceiling as it is at present that it needs to stay In the shop below or be fire protected they suggested laying a bit of fire rated plaster board over the top of the cables. Can anyone tell me if this is correct and where I would find this in my regs book?

 

[WarrenG]

Doing a refurb on a shop with a flats above it. The customer has had a suspended fire rated ceiling fitted under the existing ceiling in the shop. At present the shop lights circuit starts in the basement then goes straight up though the shop and in to the floor of the flat above where it currently supplies the existing shop lights. Now I have only recently qualified and the question / dispute I am having with the ceiling fitters is that they say that under the new 17th edition this is no longer allowed the cable can not go in the flat floor and through the existing ceiling as it is at present that it needs to stay In the shop below or be fire protected they suggested laying a bit of fire rated plaster board over the top of the cables. Can anyone tell me if this is correct and where I would find this in my regs book?

Good question, if the cable route can stay as it is can you not just use fire rated cable for the lighting ciruits?

Or re-route the lighting circuit in fire rated cable?

I haven't checked Regs.

If I were you I would tell the ceiling fitters how you are going to wire the installation and then they can work around you.

 

[4x4 mark]

how is it wired and what type of floor void is it as most i see now are block and beam concrete floors between levels on flats. is it twin and earth and wooden floors and joists.

 

[Spudnik]

I am currently in the middle of a shop refurb with flats above.

When the building inspector came on site, he insisted that only cables relating to the flats above can go under the floor.

Then the floor joists underneath in the shop below, had to have a layer of fire proof plaster board, then suspended ceiling where cables can be installed and then normal plaster board under that.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[nakbub]

Thanks for all the replies currently it is old T&E cables buried in a conduit running from the basement up a plaster board wall in the shop up to the existing lights. If you lift the floor in the back bedroom this is where the cables come up run along the joists then go back through the existing lave & plaster ceiling. The void is simple like you may find in a house the ceiling of shop fixed to joist which are also the joists for the floor of the flat. building inspector only said that the ceiling needs to be 1hr fire rated nothing else about cables etc. The way I was going to do it was pull new cables using the existing conduit and holes in joist drop the cable in above the new suspended ceiling that’s going up and connect the lights.

 

[Spudnik]

As long as you are happy with what the building inspector has said, then you have no worries.

If you wanted a second opinion, a quick call to your scheme wouldn't hurt.

Good luck!