Electrical standards

[Craig Cockburn]

Is there any electrical standards I can refer to regarding a house built in Scotland in 1999 and the use of standard interior lights for an outdoor porch exposed to the elements? These are downlighters and it seems like poor design

Also anything covering the wiring of interior lights where the light is in a top floor - ie the wiring runs through the roof cavity. An engineer has said that the wiring needs joint boxes for waterproofing and also earthing requirements

thanks

[Owain]

IEE Wiring Regulations [16th Edn], as cited in Scottish Building Standards Technical Documents. If IEE Regs have not been complied with then the builder must show that any alternative provides an equivalent level of safety.

Reg 130-01-01 Good workmanship and proper materials shall be used

Reg 130-08-01 All equipment likely to be exposed to weather ... shall be so constructed or protected as may be necessary to prevent danger arising from such exposure

Reg 511-01-01 Every item shall comply with the relevant requirements of the applicable British Standard ...

This would be with particular relevance to the Ingress Protection (IP) rating of the luminaire

512-06-01 Every item of equipment shall be of a design appropriate to the situation in which it is to be used and/or its mode of installation shall take account of the ocnditions likely to be encountered... 522-03-01 A wiring system shall be selected and erected so that no damage is caused by high humidity or ingress of water duiring installation, use and maintenance

(above (c) IEE 1991)

?

The loft space should be dry and should not require special measures, especially in Scotland where roofs are usually fully sarked with boards under the slates/tiles unlike "dahn sarf" where they make do with felty stuff. I don't know why joint boxes would be required for "waterproofing" - ordinary PVC cable isn't considered waterproof - however all joints must be made in appropriate joint boxes - are you saying there are joints made not in joint boxes?

Any chance you could upload some photos of these non-joint-box wiring somewhere and post the URL?

Owain

[meow2222]

1. re the porch light, if its an indoor fitting and it gets water spray, just replace it. Gonna be way quicker and cheaper than what youre suggesting.
2. re the roof wiring, sounds unlikely to me. At least I cant imagine a scenario where youd need waterproof wiring under a house roof.

NT

[meow2222]

1. re the porch light, if its an indoor fitting and it gets water spray, just replace it. Gonna be way quicker and cheaper than what youre suggesting.
2. re the roof wiring, sounds unlikely to me. At least I cant imagine a scenario where youd need waterproof wiring under a house roof. 'earthing requirements' is too vague to comment on.

NT

[David Hansen]

On 23 Aug 2006 07:58:07 -0700 someone who may be [e-mail] wrote this:-

Indeed. If it is under a porch then, unless subjected to upwards sprays from a hosepipe, one can argue that the design complies with the regulations.

It would be a different matter if it was bolted to a wall in the open.

Indeed. Assuming that it is wired with standard junction boxes I don't see a problem.