Electricity in the Garage (that ol Chestnut!)

[mariodecristofano]

hi

I have an away-from-house Garage approx. 16metres at the bottom of the garden in straight line-of-site position to the house.

The house is less than fifteen years old, with the Distribution Unit/RCD at the front of the house feeding the ring main.

Id like electricity to the garage, with a dedicated spur being installed to allow a run off of buried cable (armoured) to the garage, feeding a couple of electrical sockets and some fluorescent lighting.

There will only be the odd low voltage power tool (bench grinder), maybe a fridge and some general electronics (computer etc) ever running in the garage.

I'm getting an electrician in to do the work. At the same time, we're having one of those electric charge points installed for electric cars Free of Charge, under the government OLEV scheme...anyway I digress.

I rent the property, and want to make sure the work undertaken is done well, proper and to the correct standard. What certification and qualification do I need to check, part P(?) what proof should I get, and who is responsible for signing it off.

Finally, I think it'll cost me about £100 - does this sound right in your experience?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Finally, I think it'll cost me about £100 - does this sound right in your experience?

 

[mariodecristofano]

I'm not really sure what the smiley face indicates? Are you suggesting it's not enough? That's fine, but it'd be more helpful for me for you to tell me that, than guess in the form of an emoticon!

What should I be looking at? Try & understand I'm coming onto a Forum like this to get advice from people who have been there, done that. Something more than a smiley face would help me massively.

Thanks

 

[EFLImpudence]

You have said you are getting an electrician to do the work and presumably he will give you a quote after viewing the premises.

It depends on the situation.

The parts will cost more than £100, plus 16m trench half a metre deep.


Don't forget the forum is free, I am allowed to smile.

 

[ekmdgrf]

It's possible that EFLImpudence thinks that a smilie face might cheer you up before giving you the bad news. £100 won't even pay for the parts, let along the labour (unless your sparky turns up on horseback). It's impossible to give a good indication of labour costs here as one can't see the site and so have any idea of how much work is involved. Best advice is to get some quotes and see how they compare.

 

[mariodecristofano]

so as I dig further down into my mothball infested wallet to spend an increased amount of my kids savings, ( I get the point ) what qualifications should I be checking to make sure I don't end up on a episode of cowboy builders?

Excuse my brevity, I'm softer after 5pm

 

[bernardgreen]

I rent the property, and want to make sure the work undertaken is done well, proper and to the correct standard.

Do you own it and rent it out to tenants or are you a tenant.

If you are the tenant do you have the owners permission for this work to be done.

 

[mariodecristofano]

its a good question but yes, I do have the landlords permission thankfully. he trusts me explicitly to get this type of work done as and when I see fit to the house, so I just want to make sure I don't get a ropey company to come in and bodge the work.

 

[Taylortwocities]

There is a site that lists all of the registered electricians on the CPS list
http://www.competentperson.co.uk

As members of the 'schemes' you will at least have a comeback through the scheme if things go wrong.

Note that inclusion in the list is not any way of determining an electricians competence.
I would use a spark that a friend has recommended and is included on teh CPS list.

 

[mariodecristofano]

Thank you all

Based on that list, I have a company coming out this week to quote for the work. Fingers crossed I don't have to sell a kidney

 

[JohnW2]

Based on that list, I have a company coming out this week to quote for the work. Fingers crossed I don't have to sell a kidney

They may well be happy for you to dig the trench, which might help you to keep both kidneys!

Kind Regards, John

 

[mariodecristofano]

yeah was thinking that, as it seems to be the biggest part of the job from my limited understanding. Half a metre deep right?

 

[JohnW2]

yeah was thinking that, as it seems to be the biggest part of the job from my limited understanding. Half a metre deep right?

Yep, certainly the most 'physical' part of the job and, I would imagine, a substantial proportion of the charged 'labour time' if they were to do it - and, yes, about half a metre deep - they would presumably tell you exactly what they wanted.

Kind Regards, John

 

[mariodecristofano]

I'd probably contact Gas, Electric & Water services and get them to do a locate before I started digging too, as the 'run' where I intend to dig the trench is directly in-between my own and neighbours property and there's very possibly at-least a sewer main pipe I suspect.

I'd use a 4" wide trench tool, which I suspect would be adequate for the diameter of the armoured cable being used.

Does this sound ok in terms of diligence

I don't suppose an aerial install would be ok do you, considering we're talking (after closer inspection) less than a 10 metre cable run?

 

[JohnW2]

I'd probably contact Gas, Electric & Water services and get them to do a locate before I started digging too, as the 'run' where I intend to dig the trench is directly in-between my own and neighbours property and there's very possibly at-least a sewer main pipe I suspect.

It never does any harm to ask, but I don't think you should hold your breath in terms of expecting them to have accurate (if any) information about where services are buried! If you have any plans of your house, they might give at least a rough indication of where some of the services are.

I'd use a 4" wide trench tool, which I suspect would be adequate for the diameter of the armoured cable being used.

It would really be up to you to decide how to do it. A 4" wide trench of adequate depth would be fine. Are you talking about a manual or powered 'trench tool'?

I don't suppose an aerial install would be ok do you, considering we're talking (after closer inspection) less than a 10 metre cable run?

It's a theoretical option which you could discuss with the electricians. Most people would probably regard underground as 'neater'!

Kind Regards, John