Sandy
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Hi all,
I'm trying to locate the answer to some questions about current regulations for electrical installations related to rewiring. Typically, the more you look online, the more confused you get and the more different opinions you get. Therefore, I'm now doing what I think I should have done with questions like these and asked on here.
I'm almost at the end of the process of buying a house (built c.1930) that I know needs quite some work doing in terms of electrics (amongst others). I'm more than happy to do as much as I can in preparation for a qualified/registered trades to do the needful and sign off etc. I've got helping hands available for short time to do a lot of donkey work and SWMBO breathing down my neck to get works done ASAP, so I want to do as much as I can ready for qualified trades to complete what I cannot do.
1) I want to be able to chase all the walls for sockets and light switches for the back boxes, as i can do it at the same time as other messy/noisy work. I've seen some guidance that suggests that sockets must be a specific height above finished floor level, but then some comments saying it doesn't apply to renovation/rewire jobs, only to new builds. Please can someone confirm which version is correct? I realise it's probably covered in some regulations online, but I simply cannot find the exact section I need to answer this.
2) Following on from question 1, I want to be able to plaster up around all the boxes and other areas, but still allow the capability for the spark to run the cables afterwards. I was thinking of running conduit down from the back boxes below floor level, skim and plaster over, which would still permit the cables to be run as and when the spark gets to the job. However, again, I've read conflicting info online ranging from that this "shouldn't be done as the plastic coating of the wires interacts with conduit", then others saying that "it should be done as the plaster degrades the plastic coating" to "it's not a problem", to "yeah, I do it routinely", so I don't know what to believe, but want to know if there are any specific regulations preventing me from doing this.
3) On a slightly different topic, what is the opinion and thoughts of someone capable, but non-registered laying all the cabling out, up to the back boxes in preparation for someone registered/qualified to connecting up all the circuits? Is this frowned upon? Not acceptable? etc.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.
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