32mm hole in stud 4 x 2

[JohnW2]

A couple of smaller holes spaced as per building regs is better.

I don't think the Building Regs have anything to say about holes in non-structural timbers, do they?

Kind Regards, John

 

[big-all]

if there is any insulation at all going round the cables you will have down rate them even more if in insulation and bunched up ??

 

[robbie77]

if there is any insulation at all going round the cables you will have down rate them even more if in insulation and bunched up ??

No insulation.

 

[big-all]

another point to keep in mind assuming 100mm/4" studs and 12.5mm plasterboard each face you only have 25mm safe zone centrally in the studs to save the need for protection if outside normal zones

 

[JohnW2]

another point to keep in mind assuming 100mm/4" studs and 12.5mm plasterboard each face you only have 25mm safe zone centrally in the studs to save the need for protection if outside normal zones

Interesting point. Even if the holes are right in the middle, unless the cables are very taught, there is no guarantee that no parts of the cables will be less than 50mm from the wall surface on one side or the other - so it's theoretically best to keep within safe zones in order to avoid the need for protection/sheathing. Whether many people even think about that is, perhaps, a different matter!

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

I would think that most people - electricians anyway - think about the safe zones in such walls.

 

[JohnW2]

I would think that most people - electricians anyway - think about the safe zones in such walls.

Maybe, but I suspect that they will often be fooling themselves, particularly with the (very common) vertical drops through stud walls.

The cable will obviously be within the 'safe' zone where it leaves, say, a light switch, and can be made to be within that zone when it gets to the ceiling (and goes through a head plate or whatever), but, unless it is very taught (in may experience, very rare) there is no telling exactly where it is going in between - and it obviously gets even more uncertain if one has to (blindly) wiggle/fish the cable past obstructions in the cavity. After all, the cable only had to deviate a couple of inches from the 'straight line path' to become outside of the zone created by a single-gang accessory.

Kind Regards, John