Vertical chases

[LEONC1963]

Hi again

Having finished renovation of living room I will shortly be moving onto the kitchen which will be a complete rip out including knocking down and moving back one short wall to create more space and knocking down the brick under stairs cupboard again to create more space.

Now the electrics are on the one down ring for living room and kitchen I want the ring separated so the kitchen has its own ring or rather two rings one for sockets and one for appliances.

An electrician will be doing this work as want to upgrade the CU to a recessed one as current CU is in the under stair cupboard that is being knocked down so will be boxing in the meters with access door so the new CU can be built into the stud work for this.

Now to save some money I will be cutting the chases for sockets and spurs myself can these all be cut vertically the ceiling is coming down too so access will be good for the electrician to run cables in ceiling space.

I would prefer just vertical chases as understand too these can be a bit deeper than horizontal chases and will I think be safer if so I need to drill holes in future to hang stuff.

Oh BTW the Mira shower is on a separate CU due to not enough space on the old CU can this now be wired into the new CU as doing so will help to declutter that wall which also has the alarm box.

So in short do just vertical chases comply with part P

 

[Murdochcat]

You should be asking the spark you are using

 

[ebee]

Purely vertical chases are my preferred option anyway. I am not as keen on horizontal chases except where obvious such as kitchens, Corners I am not keen on at all and even more so the top 6 inches of a wall. That`s just me though, it is perfectly permissible under our regs to use any or all of the "safe zones" .
Providing that using those zones does not make those cable runs exceptionally long of course, which in almost all cases they never will do.

 

[Taylortwocities]

You should be asking the spark you are using

Whssign

• Taylortwocities
• 16 Jul 2016

What he said

The electrician will have to sign the installation certificate where he declares that he DESIGNED, INSTALLED and TESTED the installation.

I would prefer just vertical chases as understand too these can be a bit deeper than horizontal chases and will I think be safer if so I need to drill holes in future to hang stuff.

The basis os the recognised zones are so you/others are aware that the cable run is vertically or horizontally run to an accessory. Depth of the chase is not an issue, and you shouldn't be going deeper than absolutely necessary. In many houses, cables are just run on top of wall blockwork and plasterboard sheet just fixed over (aka DOT and DAB).
In these situations the cable will only be about 15mm from the finished wall surface.

 

[ebee]

In these situations the cable will only be about 15mm from the finished wall surface.

often less too ,

If the plaster is indeed 15mm thick (sometimes less sometimes more) then your 15mm starts at the wall end of the cable and reduces by the thickness of that cable so you might just be a few millimetres below in practice. You often need to chase it in a bit but often many electricians don't

 

[LEONC1963]

You should be asking the spark you are using

Thanks for the helpful reply! not booked one yet as planning ahead and thus the reason for the post.

 

[LEONC1963]

Purely vertical chases are my preferred option anyway. I am not as keen on horizontal chases except where obvious such as kitchens, Corners I am not keen on at all and even more so the top 6 inches of a wall. That`s just me though, it is perfectly permissible under our regs to use any or all of the "safe zones" .
Providing that using those zones does not make those cable runs exceptionally long of course, which in almost all cases they never will do.

Thank that was also the reason of have two rings in kitchen one for sockets and one for appliances

 

[flameport]

not booked one yet as planning ahead and thus the reason for the post.

You need to find one and ask them
Doing a load of work yourself and then expecting someone to turn up and complete it will result in problems.

kitchen has its own ring or rather two rings one for sockets and one for appliances.

Who is designing this - you or the electrician?
A ring final circuit was intended to supply all of the socket outlets in a moderately sized house.
Why anyone would want two of them in a single room is a mystery.

so will be boxing in the meters with access door

Hopefully not an access door, but a completely removeable section to provide proper access to the meter and cutout, which is typically up to 1m in all directions.

Oh BTW the Mira shower is on a separate CU due to not enough space on the old CU can this now be wired into the new CU

Of course it can. Why would anyone have a new consumer unit and leave a separate old one for a single circuit?

So in short do just vertical chases comply with part P

Vertical chases can be used in some situations.

This is Part P:

be safer if so I need to drill holes in future to hang stuff.

If you drill into walls containing electric cables, those cables will be damaged.
The direction of those cables changes nothing.

 

[LEONC1963]

The whole room needs skimming which is my preferred rather than plasterboard dot and dab as the room is only 2.5m wide so every mm is important, I will chase the walls down to 30mm and back box cut outs 35mm so the electrician can use 20mm oval conduit, then fill to level with bonding plaster read for skimming of whole room and ceiling.

The walls are quite rough typical ex council home that has no multi finish plaster.

Appliance sockets will be under counter 450mm up from floor with spurs above counter inline with sockets and using crabtree platinum range in polished chrome (Wifes Choice to match living room sockets)

 

[LEONC1963]

You need to find one and ask them
Doing a load of work yourself and then expecting someone to turn up and complete it will result in problems.


Who is designing this - you or the electrician?
A ring final circuit was intended to supply all of the socket outlets in a moderately sized house.
Why anyone would want two of them in a single room is a mystery.


Hopefully not an access door, but a completely removeable section to provide proper access to the meter and cutout, which is typically up to 1m in all directions.


Of course it can. Why would anyone have a new consumer unit and leave a separate old one for a single circuit?


Vertical chases can be used in some situations.

This is Part P:
View attachment 344659


If you drill into walls containing electric cables, those cables will be damaged.
The direction of those cables changes nothing.

Of course I will liaise with electrician, the whole ground floor is on one ring, latest code I read now says a separate ring for kitchen is now the norm due to amount of appliances etc being use and as I have already had extra sockets installed in living room and thus expending the ring thought it would make sense to have kitchen separated and put on own ring. NO?

quote:

A kitchen today needs it's own ring main and appliances should be on their own circuit due to loading purposes.eg electric hob ,oven, microwave oven etc this is to stop overload and this lessons any problems to the ring . Hope this helps Kind regards Dexter Electrician.

No a large access door will be sufficient the CU will not be behind the boxing but recessed into it for easy access but the meters will be behind and access will be easier as not having to move all the stuff in cupboard to read, I will ensure it is accessable though of course.

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