Running cable to attic lights and smoke detector

[gotnolegs]

Just spoke to the local building control.


I conceed, i have been misinformed but i do think it is because i was working under him at the time so he obviously trusted my work. My apologies for that and thank you for correcting me, saved me valuable time.


The BCO did however say i can lay my own conduit for the cable to be fitted through and plaster over it without issue of needing a permit or sparkie (he advised i photograph everything so i can show it to a sparkie, but i already have).


On that note, is the layout of that conduit sufficient and is the plan to run a smoke detector cable through the knockout fine? Is there sufficient conduit for the cable?

 

[gotnolegs]

Confirmed i have an electrician willing to feed into the conduit so long as i provide good photographs of where i run conduit.

He had no hesitation but said it will be no cheaper (which i do not mind). £1600 for the full job. He said he would prefer that opposed to rigging the attic and coming back months down the line or working around all my crap.

I phoned four others that where also willing but their prices where higher, none said no.

 

[JohnW2]

... i have been misinformed but i do think it is because i was working under him at the time so he obviously trusted my work.

As a matter of interest, what do you mean by "working under him"? Were you working as an electrician or, at least, as a supervised assistant to the electrician?

Kind Regards, John

 

[gotnolegs]

I was employed under him as a labourer, as with the others i have worked for. There have been a few i have done this for.

Basically they all told me where they wanted the cable and channels with specific instruction. They would (apart from the cowboy) watch me the first few times and each give me their own long winded talk about what is and what is not correct; after they where satisfied they paid less attention to inspecting my work as they knew i was very particular.

I suppose i was supervised up until i gained their trust, thereafter it was just a case of specific instruction on their plan then coming back when i was done, giving it a once over and 2nd fitting. If i had to deviate from a plan for whatever reason they would check it too. They stopped hovering over my shoulder quite quickly though once they seen i wasn't a drooling moron.once trust was gained but they made sure i was competent.

The only one that didn't check afterwards was the cowboy, who used to tell me to cut corners and not even bother checking.

In the defence of those decent sparkies if that was illegal i am a very particular person and take a lot of pride in doing a good job. I am almost obsessive about it tbh. Picked it up from working as a coach builder, people are very fussy about their cars

 

[skotl]

Thanks for coming back to us. At least you listened to the advice - many people don't

I don't see any issue with you putting in the conduit as that's not part of the electrical installation, and it certainly makes sense to get that done now, if you're doing other work.

 

[JohnW2]

Basically they all told me where they wanted the cable and channels with specific instruction. They would (apart from the cowboy) watch me the first few times and each give me their own long winded talk about what is and what is not correct; after they where satisfied they paid less attention to inspecting my work as they knew i was very particular. .... In the defence of those decent sparkies if that was illegal ....

Thanks for clarifying. I don't think that the wording of the declaration (as quoted by BAS) is meant to mean that the person "responsible for" and "carrying out" the construction of an electrical installation (and hence who signs the declaration to that effect) necessarily has to 'strike every hammer blow' and 'tighten every screw' etc. involved in the work - I would have said that the use of an adequately supervised 'assistant' is acceptable, and it sounds as if the electricians you've worked under (other than 'the cowboy'!) probably have exercised that supervision.

Kind Regards, John

 

[gotnolegs]

@ skotl

TBH i am a little ashamed that i said it was fine when it is illegal, i took that in good faith. I am very glad i called in here and asked this question now, saved a lot of potential frustration in the future!

@ john

No worries lad. TBH i would have been surprised if they where risking their businesses for a few quid, they where good blokes.




Now this is all clarified, any input on if the plan will conform to part p?

The knockout is 35mm deep. It will hold a 3/way dimmable switch operating the spot light rail.

For the lighting i had planned 2x 1.5mm cables running knockout to floor and 1x 1.5 mm running knockout to ceiling.

I am assuming the smoke detector will be 1.5mm and can be passed through the knockout, making it two cables in the upper conduit and three in the lower.

Does it sound legit and practical to feed that amount of cable and expect it not to overheat or shall i add extra conduit + fit a deeper box or find an alternative route for the smokes [alternate route will be tricky to conform to safe zones]?