Surely there must be a Reg against this?!

[SSE]

My neighbour has put up a large garage that sits alongside his house but not joined to it. He asked me to wire & fit out lights inside & sockets as well. Told him he needs to get SWA to supply it as he was insisting on runnning the supply in (save money I assume) & for some reason (mainly cos he's tight) he's went & put a plastic pipe from the house to the garage & run a 10mm twin & earth & a 10mm earth through it!! It looks rough as & to be honest I'm pretty annoyed as the cable was going to be run underground to in ducting to supply it. He's adamant he's leaving it like that unless he's breaking any rules! Anyone help?!?! If there's Reg that's not being complied with he'd have no option than to do it the way I said!

 

[Knobhead]

He's got the ulitmate option, tell you to swivel and get Joe from down the pub.

 

[UNG]

If you don't like it spit your dummy out and walk away

Other than that you don't say how far the garage is from the house if you have concerns then may be posting a picture would be more helpful in getting the right advice

 

[Deleted member 9648]

As long as there is adequate protection from sunlight...(in plastic pipe should be ok)....and adequate protection from mechanical damage I cant see a problem. Nowhere in Bs 7671 does it say the only cable that can be used externally is SWA.....Did he check the price of SWA?....would be surprised if it cost any more than what he's done TBH.
As above..........it will be your name on the rest of the install so if you are not happy with the supply arrangements walk away.

 

[monkeyelectric]

I recently done a job like this, guy ran all the cables himself and was so pleased with himself, he said it took him 3 days to dig the conduit in and thread the t+e down it, apparantly threading the cable was the hard part! Some people think this is a cheaper way of doing it for some stupid reason but each to there own, i just noted on the cert that cable was already in place if it ever got questioned which i doubt it would

 

[Farmelectrics]

its a rough design but not aware of any reqs hes broken

 

[HandySparks]

I guess my only concern would be if the plastic pipe filled up with water, which would be unlikely if both ends are inside but entirely possible if one or both ends are external. The T&E wouldn't be suitable for immersion. Otherwise, just note it on the cert (and invoice) as monkey says.

 

[SSE]

Apparently he's away offshore yesterday so I may just tell the wife it's against the regs to do it this way & that I'd have to do it the way I said. Like you guys have said, it's my name that's on it & the last thing I want is other sparkles thinking that I'm rough which I'm not! Does the SWA have to be further protected going down the side of the house or just cleated?

 

[telectrix]

can be cleated surface on brickwork, no prob.

 

[monkeyelectric]

Apparently he's away offshore yesterday so I may just tell the wife it's against the regs to do it this way & that I'd have to do it the way I said. Like you guys have said, it's my name that's on it & the last thing I want is other sparkles thinking that I'm rough which I'm not! Does the SWA have to be further protected going down the side of the house or just cleated?

what happens if he finds out its not against regs? he's your neighbour so you can't get away from him and you'll see him all the time, i know i wouldn't be very happy if someone done that to me, i would just do it the way he wants as its within regs and just note it on the cert. What makes you think other electricians will be round there looking at your work? surely if you do a good job you'll be his first choice for future work

 

[telectrix]

agree with monkey. just be sure to note on the cert. that your installation was installed using existing cable from house to garage, with the cable having been tested and readings entered on cert.

 

[Badged01]

Have to agree with the comments, doesnt seem to be against the regs provided the run of the conduit is support, cables sufficiently mechanically protected, sealed for water ingress etc ........ and of course that you find it suitable for the environment its being used in. (No kids gonna be swinging on it as Ive seen before!!) If you dont, then dont be putting your signature to any paperwork unless you caveat it to exclude the work already done.

 

[MDJ]

But how far is the garage from the house out of interest?

 

[Rockingit]

OP - I think you're barking up a tree that doesn't exist, tbh. If the cable is mechanically protected then it's fine, no matter how rough it looks or how much you wanted to go practice some SWA glanding. Lying to the client/s is a dispicable notion and is what's driving this industry to the dogs - don't do it.

The only thing you DO have to consider is the maximum loadings that can be applied using that combination of cable type so you can at least practice your voltage drop and adiabatic equations and get your tape measure out. Though, you don't need to bother with the adiabatic really as the regs have been satisfied with CPC CC.

You test the cable/s before energising and commissioning, you mark it as pre-installed on the sheet, and you move on.

 

[BlueToBits]

This sort of thing gives us a bad name. We can't call something non-compliant just because we don't like it or think we can do better. We have to be able to justify exactly why it is non-compliant and that means more than just getting a second opinion from someone on an Internet forum. If I was a customer who had paid out £1000s to dig up and re-lay my new drive because some electrician incorrectly said my overhead conduit was non-compliant, I'd be taking that electrician to court.