Regulations for burying cable in wall

[davey76]

Hello all,

We recently had a new double socket fitted.

As I sanded some rough plastering of the cable chase I discovered that the cable was hardly recessed into the wall (i.e. a very thin skim had been put on top of it - so after sanding the wall flat, the cable is clearly visible)

Are there any regulations/code of practice that state how deep the cable should be buried (its a 9" solid brick wall)

Many thanks in advance

 

[londonboy]

Nope, none.

Although when cables are fitted too shallow the plaster tends to crack.

 

[stillp]

What about 134.1.1 "Good workmanship... shall be used in the erection of the electrical installation"

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Maybe the problem lies with the plasterer, not the electrician?

 

[sparkwright]

As said, no regulation here, yet general good practice would be to sleeve the cable in some pvc oval conduit or capping, though no specific requirement. Other good practice would be to recess the cable or conduit deep enough to get at least 3 mm of plaster to cover it. A bit deeper is better still, to minimise the chances of the plaster cracking. When chasing out plaster for wiring it's common to have to chase slightly into the brickwork too to get a decent depth.

 

[davey76]

Thanks all

 

[ebee]

The amount of plaster must be sufficient

How much plaster is "Sufficient" ?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Normally you find walls either rendered in a base coat and skimmed or boarded skimmed/joint taped. The depth of a base coat and skim would be expected to be between 13-15mm and the depth of a plasterboarded wall either stud or dot'n'dab greater than that. So a sufficient depth would really depend on the section of the cable being used for the socket, as there will be slight variations between 1.5mm, 2.5mm and 4.00mm, which could well be the difference in this case of exposed cable to unexposed cable.
But at the end of the day, this should be accounted for!