Socket in loft.. Part p query...

[jtownson]

Hi All,

I am planning install a double socket in my loft and take the cable from a socket in a room below....I belive that this is ok for me (DIYer) to do myself providing that i do it safetly ?? Part P states that adding sockets to existing ring circuits does not need to be notified. Is this correct?

Thanks for your help

J

 

[GaryMo]

As long as it's not from a kitchen or shower/bathroom then notification isn't required.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Do make sure the new cable is run in safe zones , if its buried in the wall.

 

[BS3036]

Arguably though, the new cable length and socket should be protected by an RCD or RCBO.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Not if they are run on the surface or are buried >50mm

 

[RF Lighting]

The socket should be though

411.3.3

 

[GaryMo]

The socket should be though

411.3.3

Depends on its use 411.3.3 (b)

 

[BS3036]

OK jtownson.

How will you run the cable (surface, buried less than 50mm, or other)? What's the socket for (specific item or general usage)?

 

[jtownson]

It will only be buried under plasterboard, so probabaly less the 50mm and the cable will be in a bedroom - not running through a bathroom or anything.

I was going to put a fused connection unit (with switch) on the cable with a 13amp fuse just before the cable goes into the loft. I am hoping to put a double socket in the loft with one socket for a tv distribution amplifier and the other for an LCD tv.

Any thoughts?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I was going to put a fused connection unit (with switch) on the cable with a 13amp fuse just before the cable goes into the loft.

Why?

I am hoping to put a double socket in the loft with one socket for a tv distribution amplifier and the other for an LCD tv.

A TV in the loft?

Any thoughts?

If your socket circuit is a ring final (most are), have you verified that the socket from which you plan to run the cable is on the ring, and is not itself a spur?

Does the circuit have RCD protection?

Info on concealed cables:

• http://www.voltimum.co.uk/files/gb/attachments/niu/l/attachments/c5-43.pdf
• http://web.archive.org/web/20061110111450/http://www.niceic.org.uk/downloads/concealedcables.pdf
• IEE article
• IEE Article on 17th Edition requirements for concealed cables.

 

[BS3036]

Strictly speaking the circuit, or at least the new bit, should be RCD protected. If you had done the job before last July it wouldn't have needed to be, though you would still have had to run the cable in a safe zone. Mmm...

 

[jtownson]

Its a new house - built April last year so i am assuming that all the sockets are on the ring (will check). The ring main has an RCD in the consumer unit.

The tv is going to be fitted in the top corner of another room and i was either going to run the kettle lead to the socket in the loft or put a socket on the wall (or ceiling - is tha allowed??) at the the back of the tv.

Someone on another thread reccomended putting the FCU in, i am not sure why either?

 

[jtownson]

Just had a look at the following link;

http://www2.theiet.org/Publish/Wire..._wiring_matters_cables_conceiled_in_walls.pdf

In the picture on the second page of "Permitted Cale Runs" there is no blue lines near the socket nearest to the door (nearest to the floor) which is where my socket is - why is that? Is that because there are no permitted runs for that socket?!

Things are getting pretty complicated here!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That socket should have cable zones shown just like the other one.

 

[jtownson]

Thanks all.

Where should the RCD go then? or will the existing RCD in the consumer unit be enough?

I could at a push put the new cable right to the back of the plaster board wall and that might make the depth more then 50mm ha ha thus meeting the regulations - I wouldnt do that though.