I normally do my own wiring (simple domestic stuff) and then get a friendly electrician to do the testing and stuff on it. He knows my work and is happy checking it out.

However my nephew has recently completed his college course and picked me up on how I do my earth sleeving. He says that I should make sure that every part of the earth wire is covered in sleeving - I tend to put enough on to identify it but not to fully cover it. I don't see the point as the sleeving is for identification purposes not insulation purposes - isn't it? Am I ok doing what I am doing and my nephew is just being pedantic because that's what he's been taught at college?

dingbat wrote on Jun 7^th, 2009, 9:49am:

Thanks dingbat, I checked out the references you gave. I should have said that this is related to the earths in switches and sockets. Having read the regs, I still think that covering the whole ~5" of wire is a bit pedantic. I can understand how the regs have been written as they are written to cope with any length of wire potentially metres long, but as they state it is for identification purposes when you can see the whole length of wire, why does the whole length need to be covered.

Sparxxx, if that is the case with galvanised boxes, then using plastic back boxes shouldn't need this protection. What about the earth lug in a galvanised box react then?

I always thought the sleeving was to try and prevent the bare earth wire from touching a live terminal/screw, when the socket/switch is pushed back into the box. As well as for identification of course.

and to stop it getting cold in winter!!!!

... of course there is also the 0.00002p that you save by not using the extra 20% to cover it properly  

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Then it's almost certainly time he did a regs course. Regs and real life are not incompatible.

He should contact Chubbs: www.ElectricalTraining.co.uk  

Im slow!