Outside light

Can anyone help with the correct upto date method of wiring and outside light. The light in question is a victorian style lantern fixed to the top of a cast iron post.

So far I have run a 1.5mm cable underground (under the patio and enclosed within a length of thick flexible tubing). The cable resurfaces adjacent to the rear wall of the house whereby I am proposing to feed it through plastic conduit rising from ground level by 400mm or so then elbow to route through cavity. The cable run from the lamp to just inside the cavity is roughly 12M. The 1.5mm cable running from the consumer unit (B6 breaker) to where it meets the cable coming from the lamp is about 6M in length. My thoughts were to fit a 3amp switched fused spur!

Previously the lamp was fed by an old cable just buried in the ground with no protection and surfacing into the conservatory and plugging into a power point!

Any thoughts regarding the spur idea would be appreciated.

If the cable isn't steel wire armoured ( SWA ) then you have created a hazard. Plastic conduit does not provide adequate mechanical protect to PVC twin and earth cable.

bernardgreen said:

If the cable isn't steel wire armoured ( SWA ) then you have created a hazard. Plastic conduit does not provide adequate mechanical protect to PVC twin and earth cable.

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Do the flag stones / patio fabric that cover the enclosed cable not count as a form of protection ?

Chri5 said:

Do the flag stones / patio fabric that cover the enclosed cable not count as a form of protection ?

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No.

jstrong said:

Can anyone help with the correct upto date method of wiring and outside light.

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You should have asked that before you ran a 1.5mm cable underground (under the patio and enclosed within a length of thick flexible tubing).

Hope it won't be too disruptive to dig it up and do it properly.

With a big bit of luck it might be possible that the SWA can be pulled into the thick flexible tubing. It will still lack the warning tape buried above it and may not be deep enough to comply with regulations but it would be a great deal safer.

Thanks for the replies so far.
Should easily be able to pull some SWA through as the flexible tube is about 1 1/2'' in diameter. Will connect using a 5amp switched fused spur unless anyone has a better method?

Use a double pole switch so you can isolate both Live and Neutral. A Neutral to ground ( earth ) fault due to damp or damage will trip the RCD even if the Live is isolated.

Many thanks Bernard, will do!