Using SWA in the garden

[Jimk]

Dont get d i m started on that too...

[Tricky Dicky]

I recall seeing a YouTube video supposedly by a professional electrician where he ran SWA to an outbuilding and rather than bury it he ran it on the surface beneath shrubs where no body would be doing any digging. I have noticed a similar situation in our local Sainsbury?s car park with the cable going to some lamp standards apparently. Firstly is this acceptable in the current regs?

If so can I do something similar? I wish to add a light to a small shed taking the power from a nearby exterior socket. Between the socket and the shed the area is all paved but running along the edge of the paving is a shallow ?french drain?, can I bury the cable in the pebbles 50 - 100mm below the surface?

Richard

[Andrew]

It's your property and if it is plugged into a 3-pin socket then it isn't 'fixed wiring' surely. As long as the socket has an RCD and you are only using it for lighting and occasional lightweight powertool usage, and you are happy with the earthing, what's the problem ?.

There is some sort of tough cable that is not SWA but intended for outside use (or was when my neighbour rigged up a pond pump many years ago).

[newshound]

I've used this, it's not really suitable for going to a 13A plug (very stiff) although you might get away with using it on a round pin industrial plug/socket.

Mine actually runs from a switched fused spur on a 30A RCD ring main just inside the house. Someone will be along in a minute to talk about earthing.

[Dave Plowman (News]

IMHO, SWA is perfectly suitable for surface mounting. But for small current stuff there are cables designed for this exterior job which are simpler to work with.

[T i m]

Where did he say that was how he was going to use it, rather than 'taking the power from' via some hard wiring etc?

Would you 'plug in' the end of SWA with a std 13A plug top?

I'm not suggesting you couldn't do any of those things (terminate the SWA in a suitable exterior box and take some flex from there though a waterproof gland to the socket via a plug top etc).

<snip>

Cheers, T i m

[Tricky Dicky]

I was thinking of hard wiring into the existing exterior socket and running inside the shed to a garage CU. I only really need it just to illuminate the shed but will include a socket for occasional garden lighting ie Chrimbo.

Richard

[charles]

You bring the stiff cable into connection box and run a flexible lead with a plug on it out of the box. That's how my pump is fed.

[T i m]

Ok (I gleaned most of that from your op). ;-)

Awhile ago I ran a h/d mains lead out of the garage, down the garden / path and up to by the back outside door, plugging it into a socket in the lobby, as / when required. I've regularly run the lathe, workshop lights, welders, power tools and heaters from said lead (not all at the same time <g>) and with no issues so far.

Mind you, that was only 35+ years ago now. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[charles]

Ah, as recently as that? My cable to the shed must be over 40 years old. We moved here in '77 and I think the shed went up the following year.

[ARW]

You are probably thinking about Hi-Tuf a trade name for NYY-J cable.

It's fine for surface mounting but not suitable for direct burial. Now is buried under a few pebbles direct burial?

[T i m]

But it won't last. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[charles]

but, with any luck, we'll have sold the garden as a building plot before then.

[John Rumm]

So long as its not going to get damaged, then that could be ok.

RCD protection required for the socket at the far end. Depending on the house earthing system, you may want to make the far end TT and not use the exported earth other than for the protection of the SWA en route.

There are no hard and fast rules on buried cables - just use a depth that is appropriate to prevent it being damaged if dug. So under a vegetable plot it might need to be a couple of feet down, under a lawn only a foot, and I can't see anyone wanting to dig the path!

Failing that clip it to something.

[John Rumm]

If its permanently installed, its fixed wiring - whether it connects via a plug or not has no bearing.

Note that wiring outside is no longer notifiable under part P (although installing a whole new circuit still is)

[ARW]

Part P in England.....

The Jocks and Taffy's have their own rules.

The Paddies have never had any rules that they obeyed by.

[Andrew]

I thought the Taffys had to share the English rules ?.

Scotland has always been different

[ARW]

No. We gave them a little bit of independence to try and stop them from singing and they f***ed it up by destroyed the building industry in Wales.

You cannot even have an extension built in Wales without having a fire sprinkler system installed throughout the whole house and Part P is either the old English Part P or possibly even more stringent.

[Andrew]

That'll give the Bristolian property 'developers' a shock after the Severn Bridge tolls were scrapped and they all headed there looking for bargains.