Concerned about cabling running behind polystyrene plasterboard

I’m no builder. And that’s why I got a professional in to do the work. I just need some feedback as to what I can do next. Because I will take this further if he has done it wrong.
 
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I’m no builder. And that’s why I got a professional in to do the work. I just need some feedback as to what I can do next. Because I will take this further if he has done it wrong.
You have my sympathies but, as \i have implied, and unless someone else can think of any other approaches, then, if you are sufficiently concerned, I can see no alternative to removing a bit of the plasterboard in the vicinity of a cable in order to discover whether there is actually any problem which needs to be addressed.

I wish I could be more helpful, but perhaps someone else can suggest other options which I have overlooked.

Edit: I suppose one thing would be to ask the builder and/or electrician to describe exactly what had been done.

Kind Regards, John
 
It has been done as I described. Cables were passed through holes drilled through the battens, then the cable was fed through. Then those polystyrene plasterboards we’re screwed into the battens. No barrier is applied on the back of the foam. The wires would not be in direct contact with the foam but there will be about a 10mm gap from cable to foam.
 
It has been done as I described. Cables were passed through holes drilled through the battens, then the cable was fed through. Then those polystyrene plasterboards we’re screwed into the battens. No barrier is applied on the back of the foam. ...
Yes, but are you sure that there was not any sort of 'film' on the back of the polystyrene?
The wires would not be in direct contact with the foam but there will be about a 10mm gap from cable to foam.
I would need to do some research to be sure, but if there is no direct contact between the PVC cable and the polystyrene foam, then there may well not be a significant problem. Others may know the answer about that.

Kind Regards, John
 
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Yes, but are you sure that there was not any sort of 'film' on the back of the polystyrene?
I would need to do some research to be sure, but if there is no direct contact between the PVC cable and the polystyrene foam, then there may well not be a significant problem. Others may know the answer about that.

Kind Regards, John


There was definitely no film applied on the back of the polystyrene. There is a thin foil layer between Plasterboard and polystyrene, I believe this is a vapour barrier. The battens used were 3 x 2 but lay on the wall on the 3” side. So the hole was drilled through the centre of the 2” side.
 
This is an extremely awkward situation, which is virtually impossible to give good advice on. I would be tempted to ask the Building Inspector whether they were correct to approve pvc cables in contact with expanded polystyrene. There is presumably some kind of ombudsman available if they don't respond in a useful way. However I hate the idea of giving what is effectively legal advice to someone without myself having any qualifications and without knowing the full details of a case. This is a situation where the internet is not necessarily a great benefit.
 
Well I just wanted to thank you for you feedback so far. I think I may contact building regs as they passed it off and I paid for them to do a job.
 

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