Wall chasing: Horizontal vs Vertical?

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Hello again all...
...and my apologies if this has been covered previously.

I've recently bought a 1960s/70s bungalow in need of extreme renovation. Typical of the houses of that time, there is only a single 13A socket in each room, and the house is in need of a complete rewire.

I have the opportunity to put sockets where I like, and I plan to flood-wire the house with Cat6 cables or better.

The Cat6 cables will be chased vertically in a star pattern back to a patch panel.
But for mains power, which is the best way to chase conduit into the wall?

I have typically seen additional sockets being added through vertical chases, with the cable being daisy-chained from socket to socket through the loft. This seems like a lot of cutting, and a lot of cable, with the added difficulty of forcing two lengths of 2.5mm² cable down the same conduit.

chase-vertical.PNG


However, I don't see why I can't chase horizontally between sockets: less cable length, only one cable per conduit, and the crossover between data and power cables is kept to a minimum.

chase-horizontal.PNG


Surely this is the way to go, or am I missing something fundamental that means I shouldn't do it?

(PS, I only plan to chase horizontally on one side of the block walls and knock-through appliances on the other side. I suspect chasing both sides will lead to a loss of wall above!!)
 
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no expert but i beileve the answer is you cannot remove enough depth of brick when traveling horizontaly as you will weaken the bricks to much

you can weaken the odd brick or two but not a full run

the amount you can remove on the vertical is a lot lot more
 
If the wall is plastered then there is enough depth in the plaster to take two cables (side by side) enclosed in protective sheathing without cutting into the brickwork.

Unless adjoining sockets are close together (say 100 - 150 mm) then I would not route the cables horizontally, no matter what the regs allow. Very few outside the trades (or on this forum) know, or are expected to know, about zoning rules. In my opinion the average human is more likely to think that cables run vertically from/to the sockets. So happily drilling the wall several feet away from a socket to fix God knows what is more likely to be fatal with horizontal cable runs.
 
But then again, people hang pictures, fix cupboard and shelves above sockets.
Far less likely between sockets.

And if you've got a lot to do, it's a hell of a waste of cable and effort.

I know which I'd choose (if they're relatively close).
 
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there is no reason why you cant chase between accesories.its a safe zone .
 
Thanks for all of your replies - sorry for not getting back to you earlier.

I have yet to start work, but I finally met up at "The Project" with my electrician yesterday. The plan is for me to do all the chasing, conduit, boxing and feeding the cables through, and he will do the connections.

He said horizontal chasing wasn't allowed. :(

As he's doing the Doc P sign-off, I don't want to upset him by doing horizontal chases, and now that we've stripped the wallpaper and seen the cracks, I have to say I'm a bit nervous about horizontal chasing too!

I guess if it was a timberframe house horizontal paths are more of an option.
 
He said horizontal chasing wasn't allowed. :(

Ask him to bring his OSG with him and turn his attention to page 53.
Horizontal chases are allowed if they go between accessories (including consumer unit) or from an accessory to the angle formed by two walls.
 
Horizontals are allowed.
I don`t like them unless accessories are very close so very obvious but they are allowed.
the 6" (150mm) between two walls forming a corner (external or internal) they are also allowed, although again I don`t like them.
the 6" (150mm) below ceiling again I don`t like (have used twice in 25 years because no alternative) same again.
Strangely the horizontals to corners are not mentioned in the regs but the guides allow it (just read the actual regs not the guides).
At the "end of the day" apply uncommon sense and ask what if/what would a reasonable person do?
On the 17th you will need to RCD as well in many instances.
 

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