RCCB protection

And don't skimp on the depth of your trench,ideally 400mm, you want the cable deeper than the blade length of a spade or fork, if burying it under a lawn.

 

Brian
what system of earthing in your house ?
Have you confirmed that adequate Main Equipotential Bonding is in place ?
Have you confirmed the integrity of the house earth ?
Any services in the summerhouse ?
How are you going to test the installation before powering up ?
How are you going to confirm that the rcd's are operating within specification ?
Are you regarding the armour as an earth......connected both ends or one end ?
RS

 

Brian
I mentioned Part P and legalities in the plumbing forum so I won't repeat it here.
As an experienced amateur I did a job similar to yours and used a B & Q digital full range multimeter, a Fluke Volt Alert 1AC-E 2 and a Kewtech LoopCheck 107 socket tester.
http://www.pat-services.co.uk/kewtech-loopcheck107-socket-tester
The latter is a really good bit of kit.
I think you could do with the above. It is a lot less than a professional would use but it is more than the average DIY bloke would use IMHO
Paul

 

Hi Brian
Thanks for the reply. I really dont want to Pee on your parade.....but I am sure from your answers its beginning to dawn on you that some jobs require more knowledge, skill, experience and equipment than others.
I am sure you are more than competent to do lots of other jobs.
Any decent experienced qualified sparks WILL carry out full testing...as its non profitable to be called back to sort silly problems after the event.
A few pointers;
Your house insurance is invalid if a problem occurs from what you have done.(they will use any excuse NOT to pay out)
You are open to criminal proceeding if its not registered...and 'they' find out.
Are you prepared to accept responsibility for someones death ?.(slim chance but nevertheless)
RCD testing is a little more technical than you assume, hence the cost of test equipment !(and training)
Your initial opinion was about "safety"...and yet your house consumer unit is outdated and an obvious botch to start with.
You are now adding an extra inline RCD of the same value....which is against discrimination regs.
You are looking to protect a 2.5 mm radial cable with 32 A MCB...of which i dont agree....to save 4 quid.
If having someone in to do the job correctly, is too expensive...maybe the "summerhouse " is a white elephant ?
I agree with you that "you are dead a long time".
You are welcome to listen or not, but what I say is based on 47 years in a very eclectic technical background.
RS

 

There is nothing to stop you having a temporary extension. I

I did describe in detail how I had done it by way of edit but as I was outside the 10 minute I lost it all!
IMHO it is perfectly acceptable to use a temporary extension. If you intend to leave it out of doors in winter I would use the arctic blue cable. If you use a plug in RCD at the house end it should be safe.

 

Hmmm the very minimum tests must be carried out before the new system is bought into service - tripping the rcd with test button is not cricket tbqh. I''m only diy but myself would check earth integrity throughout which includes earth continuity, do eli tests, and full rcd trip times..if all results are within stipulated regulation parameters then ok..however RS's post holds a lot of credence tbqh so take note Brian.

 

After you have carried out the tests - drop the results onto the forum for perusal by the electrical technicians which abound on the forum Brian..they will analyse the results and come back with a detailed report.

 

Any spark not testing and certifying his own work is NOT an electrician.

Just because when you turn something on and it works, does not mean it is safe. Proving you have an earth, and that it is of a low enough impedance to cause a fuse/MCB to operate is essential, as are all other tests.

You may find some sparks will do minor work such as swapping light fittings and socket fronts without testing, but new circuits are a must for sure.

 

If you liase with an electrician, you may find one who would allow you to do the donkey work, running cables, digging trenches. You can then pay a modest labour charge for fitting, connecting and testing.

 

Exactly - I don't know of any sparks who enjoy digging trenches etc. I don't know why Mr Askew has just taken a defeatist attitude, you don't drop projects because of a lack of knowledge. So as per Lec all you have to do Brian is get in a decent amiable sparks and ask what you can do and cant, the sparks will do all the rest and certificate. Supply the chap with tea etc and if he is a friendly chap (most trades people are friendly and enjoy joking) he will explain what he has done and also explain the tests on the fly..you can then read further on this.

You cant just give up projects like that - its no good..you can learn something off the sparks, gold dust.

 

Brian

If I may. Please don't give up on a project based on what you have read on a forum. If you are competent, and you certainly don't come over is incompetent, then just carry on. Part P is unenforceable. Yes, it is Law, but the people who administer the Law, ie, the local authority building control department, have absolutely no interest in it and don't care. That is the truth. To prosecute someone for not complying is nigh on impossible because quite frankly nobody will do so. So, please stop worrying and go ahead and do the job.

My ten pence worth. Testing is important, of course, but if you take care to terminate your wiring neatly and securely and pay attention to making sure all the wires are terminated L N and E correctly you should have no problems. I feel RS has been rather alarmist and unnecessarily prohibitive of you doing your own project. I have no issues whatsoever with someone who is clearly conscientious and wanting to do it right in doing so quite frankly. You might expect a professional electrician to obey all the testing regime and all the Part P bollix but it si NOT illegal in this country to do your own electrical work. BS7671 is non-statutory. Part P is statutory but it is woefully misunderstood by the administrators and there is no chance of anyone as conscientious as you being fined for not notifying.

There is one major issue with forums and that is the anonymous nature of them allows people to be who they want to be. They can be helpful, unhelpful, irritating, big headed, the big I am, nasty, spiteful in fact anything they like. And the truth is forums are quite unpleasant places to be sometimes. However, take out the good advice and use it and ignore all the rest. Doesn't matter what they say or how they respond just ignore them.

I will be willing to advise you.

Regards

 

No need to dig a 400mm deep trench either. It is YOUR garden and YOUR property and there wil be no justification for digging a trench that deep. I have run some SWA across my lawn. The method I used was to push a spade in about 150mm and rock it back and forth to create a V in the lawn. I then dropped my SWA in to the V and pressed it in then closed the V back up. Not even marked it with anything. I know where it is and if anyone else was to buy the house I would tell them its there. Stop listening to all these 'Mr Perfects' Brian and just take a sensible view. I don't intend to plough the lawn and plant spuds, I have no plans to willy nilly hack in to the lawn with a pick and sod what anyone else thinks.

 

Flipping eck Un..

 

No they effin' won't jp.

 

Sorry Un I didn't mean to write that..