replacing cable in ring main

[alecson]

Both the 'feed' and 'return' cables of my ring main have to be re-routed because they run the full height of a wall, approx 400mm from the corner of the room, and there is a socket outlet in one of them, in the area where I'm creating an en-suite. I understand that I can't simply remove the socket and 'bury' the re-jointed cable in the wall, nor can I leave cables in that position without sockets/switches etc indicating their presence so I'm planning to cut the old 'feed' and 'return' cables in the ceiling, insert new lengths and re-join them under the floorboards after re-routing them down the corner of the room.
I have two questions:-.
1) Can both the 'feed' & 'return' cables be connected into single 30amp heavy duty junction boxes where they connect into the ring main in the ceiling & underfloor, or does each 'feed' and 'return' cable have to be re-joined separately by using four junction boxes.
2) In the corner of the room there are central heating pipes that will be boxed in - can the ring main cables share that space ? if so how close can they be to the pipes?

 

[Steve]

1. they must be seperate

2. as far as possible. insulate the pipes if you can.

And you cannot leave junction boxes inaccessible. All screw joints must be accessible. Use crimps and heatshrink if you have to join something that will be inaccessible.

 

[ColJack]

depending on the location relative to the bath / shower, you could put a fused spur high up on the wall ( above 2.25M ) or in place of the socket outlet where it is if it's more than 600mm from the edge of the shower / bath..

this could be used for a tower rad or for a heater for example, and would indicate the presence of the cables..
or even a shaver point..

someone double check these facts, I've ony done 1 "bathroom" since college and that was a long time ago.. ( i'm mainly industrial / commercial and you don't get many showers or baths in a factory.. )

if you could do us a photo or a diagram with dimensions for your new en-suite, showing the location of the shower / bath and the current socket, we can advise further..

 

[alecson]

Thanks for the advice, the en-suite will be at ground floor level, the cables go up the wall from the CU at the other side of the house, then between the floor joists above the hallway, before coming down the living room wall which is where the en-suite is going to be (for my aged mother-in-law) Luckily there's a false ceiling below those floor joists with removable tiles so I'm planning to fit the junction boxes (one for the feed and one for the return) in that space which is easily accessible by lifting out the tiles. I am then going to connect the ends of the new cables into sockets in the existing rig main.
I'm still unsure how close the cables can be to the central heating pipes though - will they be okay about 25-30mm away without the pipes being insulated?