some guidance on clipping wires

[lorraine]

Hi everyone

as you may know, me and my dad are rewiring my house and we have just had the consumer unit changed to a brand spanking new General Electric one (Are they any good? It was either a choice of that or Square D or something). Thanks to everyone for help with that. Seeing as there were no seals it allowed me to save a few quid by not having the spark out - as the council is assessing my work.

I have a few questions regarding the routing of cables through the joists/underneath the floor boards.

1. I am aware that I have to drill holes through joists so the edge of the hole is 50mm below the top of the joist but are there any regs as to how close I can or cannot drill through with respect to walls. For example you can only run the cable a maximum of 450mm from a wall?

2. I don't want to have to rip up my floorboards as they take ages to take up, the prat that put them down before used a combination of no more nails and nails with funny heads and they are complete pain to pull up so I was wondering how frequently I need to clip the cable? Are there any regs with regard to this. When I looked at the original installation the original sparkie had laid the cable along the top of the ceiling (parallel to the joist) and clipped once every 8 ft or so. Would this be acceptable and within regs or should I just bite the bullet and cut my floorboards anyway?

3. really a bit of a follow on from 1. Can the cable just go anywhere across the floor or is it constrained to a set distance from walls?

The reasons for me asking questions 1 and 3 are that my local sparkie who I suspect is a cowboy said it would cost me £200 just parts for a new Consumer Unit and that a full rewire would be 5k (for a 2 bed terrace) as he could not go more than 18inches away from a wall? After his first statement I thought he was pulling a fast one so I thought best to get some impartial advice.

Thanks again

Lorraine.

 

[has]

1)There are building regs regarding where you can drill the holes, it is recommended that they are between 0.25 and 0.4 times the span from the support and not less than three diameters (centre to centre) apart.


2)No need to clip the cables under the floor just make sure the cables are clear of pipes as you thread them under.

3)Same answer as above just keep clear of any obstructions. Can use small mirror and torch to check route.

The reasons for me asking questions 1 and 3 are that my local sparkie who I suspect is a cowboy said it would cost me £200 just parts for a new Consumer Unit and that a full rewire would be 5k (for a 2 bed terrace) as he could not go more than 18inches away from a wall? After his first statement I thought he was pulling a fast one so I thought best to get some impartial advice.

guess thats why you are DIY then.
Good luck.

 

[lorraine]

Hi everyone,

thanks for the reply has. I am still confused as you say that I can just lay the cable but some frantic googling took me to this page

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/4.4.1.htm

and it suggests that I need to clip the cables! If the council weren't coming round then I'd just lay them on the plasterboard ceiling but seeing as they are I'm guessing they'll be picky on little things!

Thanks again.

Lorraine

 

[nstreet]

I've been working on the plumbing in the first floor void and the loft. None of the cables are clipped, running in all directions, junction boxes galore and tons of old cable hidden away.

This was a rewire done a little over two years ago by NICEIC reg company! (before we moved in) As I DIY'er I wouldn't even do this bad a job and they go on about part p, makes me seeth

 

[Qedelec]

You might like to contact NICEIC and ask for their opinion. They do police their members and have expelled some who consistently fail to met the standards.

Junction boxes are not recommended, and in a place where they cannot be inspected is definitely not in the regs. But the regs are not the law.