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[westie1961]

hi, our house has a pir light in the garden.

It takes its power from a 1.5mm armoured cable, this is about 20ft long, the cable is attached to a brick wall then is connected to a junction box and switch on an external wall of the house.

This box is then wired into a mains socket on the other side of the external wall in the kitchen.



(the cable is buried in the ground on the 4ft run from the house to the wall).

this is shown on pics of the house when we bought it

is this ok or should the cable have been buried in the ground along its entire lenght or should it have been fitted inside plastic conduit.

[BLAKEY1963]

[quote="westie1961"]hi, our house has a pir light in the garden.

It takes its power from a 1.5mm armoured cable, this is about 20ft long, the cable is attached to a brick wall then is connected to a junction box and switch on an external wall of the house.

This box is then wired into a mains socket on the other side of the external wall in the kitchen.



(the cable is buried in the ground on the 4ft run from the house to the wall).

this is shown on pics of the house when we bought it

is this ok or should the cable have been buried in the ground along its entire lenght or should it have been fitted inside plastic conduit.[/quote]

westie1961

the cable sounds adequate , for this type of installation outdoors and can be buried , with yellow warning tape , and slabs with
danger electricity written into them.
can also be clipped direct as adequate protection within the armouring
of the cable will mechanically protect it.
one obsevation though when u say the cable is wired back to a mains socket in kitchen , is it wired into its own switched fused spur , with correctly rated cartridge fuse . ( this spur would normaly wired as a spur from the double socket if the socket is on a ring main. )
DO i assume u have already checked it is rcd protected as it is outdoors.

BLAKEY1963

[westie1961]

hi, yes it is protected by an rcd, back on the consumer unit - is this a legal requirement.

is it legal to attach the cable to the wall, the reason i ask is because we are having a new drive laid and it would be possible to dig a trench to accomodate the cable.

the previous owner fastened the cable to the wall rather than lifting the slabs.

[westie1961]

hi, should the slabs be shown above ground with danger writen into them, if so then why arent the cables layed by meb - covered by these slabs

cheers

[BLAKEY1963]

[quote="westie1961"]hi, should the slabs be shown above ground with danger writen into them, if so then why arent the cables layed by meb - covered by these slabs

cheers[/quote]

westie1961
yes u can lay cable below drive , using slabs and tape as i
described previously. ( below ground level min of 18 inches )
this proceedure recomended by 16th ed bs7671 , which is the way i would install .
can t comment why the meb do not follow the above practise ?
YES an rcd is a requirement , and should be incorporated in the spur as an rcd spur.
would get in an electrician to check work.
you still have not commented on whether there is a fused spur
feeding this light , using the socket outlet as the source of power. ?
BLAKEY1963