Socket added in loft to lighting circuit - unearthed

[Karen Cross]

I recently had CCTV installed and the contractor installed a plug socket in my loft, spurred from the lighting circuit - which is unearthed. He added a four-plug extension lead to take the plugs for the four cameras. Is this safe? Or should I be concerned? Many thanks for any advice and help.
Karen

 

[diditrain]

How do you know it is unearthed? what type of cable has been used to get a supply off the lighting circuit?

 

[Pete999]

I recently had CCTV installed and the contractor installed a plug socket in my loft, spurred from the lighting circuit - which is unearthed. He added a four-plug extension lead to take the plugs for the four cameras. Is this safe? Or should I be concerned? Many thanks for any advice and help.
Karen

Yes you should if what you say is correct, get it looked at by a proper electrician.
Assuming what you say its correct, the reason that the socket is not earthed could be that your lighting circuit wasn't / isn't earthen in the first place, this will be a problem for you as well, I'm certainly not trying to frighten you, you really need to get this issue looked at soonest. Good luck, other people have asked about an electrical certificate, from what you say in your post, that sounds doubtful, who was it that installed your CCTV, an electrical contractor or some Chancer.

 

[Octopus]

Did they give you a certificate for the change? And if so what does it state,?

 

[GeorgeCooke]

Sockets, though not banned, should not be put on lighting circuits. Think what would happen if you or your partner plugged a fan heater into the 4 way extension. Total darkness in the loft, panic, and a foot through the ceiling perhaps. As for an unearthed socket the mind boggles.

Get the socket rewired as a spur on the upstairs ring final. You can probably drop the cable down inside or behind a wardrobe or cupboard.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

As already mentioned, not ideal, you could in theory add a fused connection unit and feed a dedicated socket/appliance from it.
depending on your upstairs walls, you might be able to run a cable to the loft from your upstairs sockets to feed the cameras.
Best advice though is get an electrician in to check this over as it doesn't seem right what you have had done. Ask around for recommendations as thats often the best way to find somebody decent, any chancer can knock up a website or business card

 

[Karen Cross]

Thank you very much for all the advice - you’ve confirmed my suspicion something isn’t right and I’ve now got an electrician booked to check it over properly!