Moving light switch to the other side of the door

I'm planning to re-hung 2 doors to open in the opposite way and want to change the light switches to suit.

They are on (very tough) brick walls, with very limited access to under floor/above ceiling, so no easy way to go about it without the need for quite major re-decoration after (which I want to avoid if at all possible...).

The builder who did our extension several years ago did a similar thing at our request to another door/switch. The guy that carried out the work was a qualified electrician that the builder employed.

I watched him at the time, and this is what he did:

- Crimped an extension to the cable(s) from the position of the "old" switch

- Chiselled/chased a shallowish (5-6cm) channel along the 15cm from the switch to be removed to the door frame.

- Chased a channel along the 15cm from the door frame to the position of the new switch.

- Chiselled a space for the new switch.

- Temporarily removed the door's architrave

- Ran the cable(s) along the channels and around the door in the gap behind the architrave to the new switch position.

- Replaced architrave

- Installed new switch

- Plastered over chased channels old switch.

Is this an acceptable solution? Does it comply with current regulation?

PS: He was responsible for a lot of electrical work at the time (very substantial extension), and I was less than impressed by the quality of his work in general (part of it perhaps was the result of constantly being rushed by the builder).

Reply to
JoeJoe
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As long as all cabling is within 15cm of the edge of a wall, or within a 15cm wide zone horizontally and vertically aligned with a *visible* outlet, it's ok. See the wiki:

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Has to be visible - I've seen a job where the cable ran in a neat horizontal and vertical to an invisibly buried junction box.

jgh

Reply to
jgh

Sounds like a bodge to me, but have you thought of perhaps putting in a radio controlled switch in the original place and using a glued on battery operated remote which you can put wherever you want it. As long as you can get to it to change the batteries it should work well over such a short distance. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

The receiver could be in the ceiling rose. That would save running a cable to the light switch altogether. Why isn't that done routinely, as it would surely be cheaper in new builds than the traditional method?

Reply to
GB

It's coming,...not quite there yet.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Having spouted my twaddle, I checked some prices. I found a kit for around £20, which isn't competitive against the traditional method unless a lot of channelling out of solid walls is needed.

Reply to
GB

Thanks a lot for that!

One of the switches is 20cm from the corner rather than 15cm, but it'll have to do...

Reply to
JoeJoe

Quite possibly cost effective when re-wiring Victorian or older property. Anyone recommend any particular sources?

Reply to
newshound

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Reply to
Jethro_uk

Yup.

Frankly it could be peanuts if it was a one chip or two chip board made in china...that you just pointed a remote at.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

That's just the switch for 80 squid. The receiver is the same again. I'm sure the quality is there, but there are alternatives for a lot less.

Reply to
GB

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