the bodge job I did

[electricalImprover26]

Hi
I'm not a fully qualified spark. I went down under the floor boards to have a look. I saw at least 4 cables being ran horizontally from the back of the house across the floor then into the consumer unit . The lad done this because the easiest route from the extension isn't a straight line with the cu. Is this compliant with the regs? I thought it was bad practice. if So I will get him to re run those cables now!!

 

[ericmark]

There are when buried in walls permitted zones and and rules as to routes cables should take but under the floor as long as the cables are unlikely to be damaged then very little to dictate route which must be taken.

As with most things there is a trade off and what may be good in one way can be bad in another. I have argued many times that if you clip a cable within a stud wall for example then if some one drills it can't move to the side reducing damage but loose it will just be pushed to one side.

Loop impedance is another direct routes rather than following walls can reduce the loop impedance much depends on how close to limits although thicker cable is the real answer.

I remember being criticised for mounting sockets too low behind a bed head until I explained they were that height so when the bed was moved in and out it would not damage socket or plug as it would go over them.

So if you think it is wrong two things first.
1) Pictures and post them better than any description.
2) Why did the electrician say he did it that way?

The regs (BS7671) are not law although they can be quoted in a court of law but most scheme members as a condition of being a scheme member have to comply by them. When wiring a new house I would cleat all cables but when wiring an existing house I will use my judgement and rather than lift a floor to put in cleats I may use a void between ceiling, floor, and support beams. However under a suspended ground floor one does have to consider rodents.

 

[securespark]

As eric suggests, pictures are the best way to describe your issue.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

There is nothing in the requirements of BS7671 that states cables cannot be laid on floors under the house. Providing the influences of the environment that they are laid in, will not have any adverse effect and this method is not causing undue stress to cable and terminal.

Of course it would have been nice for the cable to have been clipped to the joist every 300mm, but sometimes this is not possible if access does not allow.

If you wanted to be really picky you could highlight a number of the requirements in BS7671 that may give a little depth to your concerns, but as previously mentioned British Standards are for guidance and are not legal requirements.

 

[rjm2k]

maybe a long wait, OPs last post (1 of now 2) was this time last year!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

maybe a long wait, OPs last post (1 of now 2) was this time last year!

I wonder how that task went?

 

[electricalImprover26]

All right time to come clean. I was embarrassed to admit I did this bodge job.
I didn't want to use alot of cable. Next time I will do it properly.

Anyway here's a picture of representation of what i've done. This picture is a looking down as if the floor was transparent. The bit thats marked doorway underneath there's a section of wall that's missing allowing me to crawl from the access hatch to the top left of the picture. There is a hole there where all the new cables are going. Took me bloody ages to get the first cable in. In the end I used my dads mini digger to brake through. Took me ages since the angle was really shallow. I will clipped it up onto the joists for the living room floor since it's really damp down there. Like I said the cable isn't straight run but slanted


As for the previous rewire, it was a very steep learning curve for me. It took me ABSOLUTELY ****ING AGES. I doubt anyone has taken that long. Guinness book of records worthy I think. But the council tested/ signed it off for me in January. The electrician said "Good electrician shame we can't get him a job" I swear on my late grandma's grave. Took them ages to get the electrician out to test. This is what my taxes pay for!! Seriously Manchester city council don't know what they doing which worries me. That says to me nobody reports rewires.


Also I wanted some advice on routing cables in the new extension. At the moment the wires are within a trench I've dug out. The trench is the border in the picture. The green line represents a wire. I was going to box it in with some wood then laminate flooring on top.

Untitled

• electricalImprover26
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

Untitled

• electricalImprover26
• 28 Nov 2013
• 1

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The diagrams are not that helpful, and if the cables where that difficult to pull through, I would be testing continuity, IR and inspecting them for damage, before I proceeded any further.

If in doubt blame a niceic electrician, I can live with that!

 

[electricalImprover26]

It's what us IT folks do. If in doubt blame someone else lol. so as long as I've not damaged the cable and I've clipped it to the joist, it doesn't matter have slanted the run is right ? the run of cable in the diagram is underneath the floorboards. The run is very slanted. isn't straight at all.

As for athe extension perhaps a photo be more useful
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...HLCgtN0/w1137-h853-no/IMG_20131128_152800.jpg

If u look closely those cable are in a trench. I was going to dig deeper then box them in with a lid. It will be flush with the floor then laminate flooring on top

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It's not pretty!

 

[electricalImprover26]

you talking about the bodged cable run? Yeah I didn't think of that I rushed it. My work wouldn't let me take time off. The director wasn't there so my project manager didn't let me take the week off. It took me most of the day to get that flaming cable down. In the end I just went mental with the digger. I quote this is the really old and hard red brick we all hate!! The biggest factor was the freaking shallow angle I had to work at.

I lost a day and I ran out of cable lol. I just rushed. Chill out banallsheds. I don't think that was necessary. Did little baby wake up wrong side of the bed.

 

[RF Lighting]

Just ignore ban. We all do.

Your cable route looks fine. Under a suspended floor it doesn't matter what route you take. Just take the shortest route to save cable.

An odd clip here and there just to keep the cables off the sub floor is all that's required.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Admin - will you please explain what is abusive about this:

Chill out banallsheds. I don't think that was necessary.

You LIED to us.

Of course it was necessary.



RF - you might think it's perfectly OK for people to come here and tell lies, but I don't.

 

[DaftPunk]

He was embarrassed. Give the kid a break FFS.

 

[viewer]

To the new extension:
If I've seen it correctly, then the ring runs around the perimeter of the room. The trench is a cut-out just deep enough for the cables.
Wood will go over the cable so that the floor and wood are flush
Laminate will be glued over this
No idea where ring enters room.
Thoughts:
Make sure that you have (more than) enough sockets. This is something you can't alter later.
Ensure vertical cables to sockets are clipped.
Check on the adhesive used with the laminate to see that it is OK with PVC. If not you'll need to protect exposed cable during installation.
Do all the tests you can before putting down the flooring