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Wiring to Shed...
stevebubs - 20/1/16 at 04:19 PM

Finally got the space to put up a 'Garden Office' to work from and keep out from under SWMBO's feet during the day when I'm trying to work (plus no background 'Cartoonito' when on conference calls)

The question I have is around wiring it up. I already have wiring into the garage at the bottom of the garden and the office will be butted up against one of the garage walls. There's Armoured Cable into the Garage, and a second one out to the actual shed. What I want to do is run an additional cable from the Garage into the Office.

I'm perfectly comfortable with what needs to be done, and more than happy to do it myself (garage easily isolated by pulling fuse in main house's consumer unit), but unsure where I stand on the whole legal issue ('Part P' or whatever it is nowadays)

Can I just do the work, or do I need to get it certified with a certificate of works etc?

S

nick205 - 20/1/16 at 04:33 PM

I'm not 100%, but I believe you can do the work and have it tested/certified by a qualified electrician. That's what I did in my integral garage to add more sockets in the form of a ring main from the consumer unit.

Probably worth checking with a sparky first to make sure they'll do it for you and at what cost too.

cliftyhanger - 20/1/16 at 04:39 PM

Prior to 2000, you could do what you liked.
If you are confident, and happy that you can do the wiring safely, just do it.
If you are after a 16A supply, you could put a 16A socket in the garage and then run that out to the shed. OK, you ought to get that 16A socket checked, but after that it is just a plug-in extension lead, so nothing to do with regs.

gregs - 20/1/16 at 05:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
Finally got the space to put up a 'Garden Office' to work from and keep out from under SWMBO's feet during the day when I'm trying to work (plus no background 'Cartoonito' when on conference calls)

The question I have is around wiring it up. I already have wiring into the garage at the bottom of the garden and the office will be butted up against one of the garage walls. There's Armoured Cable into the Garage, and a second one out to the actual shed. What I want to do is run an additional cable from the Garage into the Office.

I'm perfectly comfortable with what needs to be done, and more than happy to do it myself (garage easily isolated by pulling fuse in main house's consumer unit), but unsure where I stand on the whole legal issue ('Part P' or whatever it is nowadays)

Can I just do the work, or do I need to get it certified with a certificate of works etc?

S


What loading are you planning to run in the office?

Greg

hizzi - 20/1/16 at 05:11 PM

in your own house you can do what you like, gas water electrics , do it for a friend you are in deep doo doo. problem comes when you go to sell the house and they look for certificates

rgrs - 20/1/16 at 05:19 PM

Unless you are part p or full ticket, you cannot do any work in 'special areas'. These include kitchens,bathrooms and anything outside, even as the house owner !

Try a small local company, it might not be as much as you think, and at least then it will be tested.

Hth

Roger

dhutch - 20/1/16 at 05:41 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rgrs
Unless you are part p or full ticket, you cannot do any work in 'special areas'. These include kitchens,bathrooms and anything outside, even as the house owner !

When I spoke about a similar topic the general understanding was that as both ends of the cable are INSIDE (garage/shed/house) then linking an armored cable from one to the other by well NOT count as being outside work.

However I am woolly with various changes that have happened over there, and things like new circuits into the house CU are/where dis-allowed at point point, and there is also a difference at to the total size (i think 30sqm was the cut off) and also what the building was made out of (flammable, aka wood, or non-flamable) .

The conclusion for me was however, that as kitchens has just been removed from the 'special areas' list I could extend an existing (unused) cooker feed,, with an armoured cable to my metal framed garage (both ends terminated inside) and that then because the garage was under the size limit and of non-flammable construction I could do what the hell I liked inside it.

NB. If it steel framed, its likely you will also need an earth rod, rcd, and to create a TT earth system, rather than export the PME earth system from the house..

In short, as long as its not still, I would not be against it. The DIY not forums are also quite good for this sort of talk.


Daniel

David Jenkins - 20/1/16 at 06:34 PM

It cost me around £300 to get my shed wired up - the shed's about 3ft from the back of the garage, so not much outside wiring. This price included an RCD within the shed, some sockets and lights inside, with a security light and a waterproof external socket outside.

I ended up with a nice bit of paper to prove that it was professionally installed.

[Edited on 20/1/16 by David Jenkins]

rgrs - 21/1/16 at 11:16 AM

Just to clarify for the OP, yes it's notifiable works, you can either do the work yourself and use a 3rd party to obtain test and certificate, or use someone with either a part P or full ticket to do all the works.

You could talk to a sparks to see if they would be happy if you ran the cables, fitted back boxes etc leaving them to 2nd fix and test, this would lower the bill considerably as it cuts down on the labour time.

You also need someone on-site to advise re earthing, but normally as a separate building it would need TT.

I'm afraid that even if you wire it all back to a plug top this does not comply, this was specifically brought in under part P to stop exactly this.

For info, kitchens are still classed as special locations, but what did change in a previous amendment was the amount of work before notification was necessary.


Roger

stevebubs - 21/1/16 at 05:35 PM

Cheers folks - don't suppose any of you are sparkies in the Reading area that would like to take it on?

stevebubs - 21/1/16 at 05:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rgrs
Just to clarify for the OP, yes it's notifiable works, you can either do the work yourself and use a 3rd party to obtain test and certificate, or use someone with either a part P or full ticket to do all the works.

You could talk to a sparks to see if they would be happy if you ran the cables, fitted back boxes etc leaving them to 2nd fix and test, this would lower the bill considerably as it cuts down on the labour time.

You also need someone on-site to advise re earthing, but normally as a separate building it would need TT.

I'm afraid that even if you wire it all back to a plug top this does not comply, this was specifically brought in under part P to stop exactly this.

For info, kitchens are still classed as special locations, but what did change in a previous amendment was the amount of work before notification was necessary.


Roger


Cheers; want it done properly. Reason for wanting to run the cables is I want to build the shed next weekend and when it's in place, running Armoured Cable afterwards will be near impossible.

stevebubs - 21/1/16 at 05:38 PM

BTW What size armoured cable would I need?


Cable run will be <10 metres

Shed (cabin) will have lights, oil rad and computer equipment in it...so I guess 16A + 3A?

Existing Cable from the house has a 20A fuse on it....will this be enough for the garage + cabin?

nick205 - 22/1/16 at 09:03 AM

Hi Steve,

I work in Basingstoke and can recommend the sparky we've used at work. It would be worth a conversation with him to see what scope there is for doing some of the work yourself and then having it finished/tested. U2U me if you'd like his contact details.

Having recently tried to sell my house I can advise that buyers/surveyors will ask for paperwork and certificates for this type of stuff so it's worth doing right.