240V garden lighting in UK

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What are the current regulations to install some small spotlights in my garden? Do I need to run armoured cable all the way to the fittings which will be fitted to concrete foundations in my rockery, or do I run armoured to a junction box on say, a brick wall then run lengths of aprox 1M flex to each light?
 
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Firstly, are you aware of the regulation - law, actually, which says that however you do it you must notify your council in advance, if you're in England & Wales?

A metre of flex snaking over a rockery doesn't sound like a good idea - can you get armoured to loop through each light?
 
Firstly, are you aware of the regulation - law, actually, which says that however you do it you must notify your council in advance, if you're in England & Wales?

thats not correct - you could use an approved contractor who would deal with the notification "in house" as it were
 
They must also be protected by an rcd, as you are outwith your earthed equipotential zone, ie your house.

I would advise strongly against using anything other than armoured cable, unless you could provide some other kind of mechanical protection for the cable, ie conduit, but i would say that will look more unsightly that anything else!
 
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JB - remember, if you can't loop armoured through the lights (not unusual for there not to be room for 2 armoured glands) you can still use your idea of running the SWA through boxes and taking a cable to each light, only don't use flex for that, use SWA again. As you don't have to maintain armour continuity beyond each light, you don't have to use a SWA gland if there's no room - a compression one will do.
 
I live in Scotland so will have to check on notification.
Thought that was the case with running armoured all the way, but sat in a bistro garden the other week and noticed they had flex ran from the JB at the armoured cable termination to the lights - hence my confusion
 

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