How to run electric to my shed.

[Lee Duncan]

Evening folks,
Im Lee and I am looking for some advice on how to run electric to my shed. I have been searching the net for help but there's been so many different answers its starting to confuse me. I have never tried this before but I am an experienced diy'er and will give anything ago once.

I will be using my shed to fix and build motorbikes so I will be using power tools. I'm wanting to have 3 strip lights and maybe 4 or 5 double sockets.
My shed is approximately 10ft from the back of the house, it would probably be 24ft from the main fuse box. ( main fuse box is located in the cupboard at the front door)

I know I'm going to have to dig a trench to run the wire from the main fuse box to the shed but not sure how deep plus the wire will be run underneath a path, will that be safe?

Can someone please tell me how to do this and what wire, fuse boxes etc etc i will need?

Any information would be a big help as I would like to give this a go myself instead of getting a sparky in.

 

[Octopus]

Any information would be a big help as I would like to give this a go myself instead of getting a sparky in.

And you post this on a professional electricians forum!

The silence may be deafening.

 

[Lee Duncan]

What is there some kind of problem with that?I like to try and give everything a go instead of getting someone in to do it. If you don't try anything you'll never learn anything!!

 

[Octopus]

What do you do for a living?

 

[Lee Duncan]

I'm a time served joiner but left when my time finished and started driving lorrys. Why?

 

[Octopus]

I'm a time served joiner but left when my time finished and started driving lorrys. Why?

You are asking professionals, who do their job to earn a living, how to do work without them, and thus potentially put them out of work.

 

[Lee Duncan]

No not putting them out of work there is plenty of work out there, I am asking for advice thought this would be the best place but by the sounds of it I was wrong. Weather it's here I get the advice or somewhere else I will get it and I will do it myself. Would rather ask the professionals how to do it than someone who doesn't have a clue but well well at least I might actually get the answers I'm looking for somewhere else.

I feel sorry for you, your acting like a wee child you can't even help someone who's asking for advice out, how petty are you!!!

 

[kingeri]

No not putting them out of work there is plenty of work out there, I am asking for advice thought this would be the best place but by the sounds of it I was wrong. Weather it's here I get the advice or somewhere else I will get it and I will do it myself. Would rather ask the professionals how to do it than someone who doesn't have a clue but well well at least I might actually get the answers I'm looking for somewhere else.

I feel sorry for you, your acting like a wee child you can't even help someone who's asking for advice out, how petty are you!!!

Can you send some my way then?

 

[sportsparky1602]

You will need an ELECTRICIAN.......

 

[kingeri]

Lee, the job you're describing isn't a simple one, it requires calculations to be made, an inspection of the site, a look at the current installation, testing properly with an MFT prior to being energised, not to mention certification. I respect DIYers and folk who are willing to have a go, but not with electrics, and certainly not with a job like this, please get a professional in. That's what we're here for!

 

[FAA Greenie]

Ok Lee, fair enough. Step one. Contact your local building control for an electrical installations application for notifiable works, (or the equivalent in Scotland) this must be done prior to work commencing.

In Somerset the application will cost £275, you will be better off contacting you local office as the rules in scotland are
different.

Chris

 

[sportsparky1602]

I love the DIY'ers
I do insurance work so get to go in once they have had there fires.....
Some times there no longer with us!!

 

[robsparky1975]

replacing a light fitting could be within the scope of diy work but,this is as mentioned a whole lot more involved.

 

[DNS1]

Lee,

Before you do ANYTHING, please remember, ELECTRICS CAN KILL! Not necessarily you... Maybe your wife, your son or your daughter.

We're all on this forum because we're either qualified electricians/installers or training to be electricians/installers. In other words, we respect the dangers of the trade and know the need for having the proper knowledge to do the job.

Would you go on a doctors forum and say "my mate's got a hernia and needs it sorting, i'm going to give it a go, please give me some advice"...

 

[Essexboy7]

Crack on Lee its easy mate.Just make sure you do a ZS test at the fuseboard first and ascertain wether your DNO has installed a TNS,TT,TNC or PME system and make sure all the Equipotential CPC is 17th edition compliant.Then decide what sort of cable you want to use its up to you,you can use T+E,LSF,SWA or LV.Make sure you use IP rated glands though.As the work you are doing is classed as being in a special location you will probably have to fit a RCBO into your fuseboard.Once you have selected the cable you are using calculate your volt drop which will tell you what size you need.Dont forget to use diversity when you are calculating the size of your main overcurrent protection device.If you dont know how to do the calculations get a copy of the latest regs book its only £65 and the OSG is really handy as well and thats only £20.After that its simply a matter of wiring it all up.Before you energize it make sure you do an Insulation resistance and continuity test.The best thing to do these with are MFT's you can pick a cheap one up for about £750.Then you will have to notify your local council to come and sign it off.I dont know what they charge in your neck of the woods as they are all different but i know where i live there is a minimum charge of £250.Also you have to notify them before you start work.The worst that can happen is you will have a fire or someone will get killed by electrocution


Or you could just pay a spark to do it

 

[Baker1988]

The worst that can happen is you will have a fire or someone will get killed by electrocution

And If this does happen you will probably be prosecuted and sent to prison as it will be your fault

 

[telectrix]

a bit of constuctive advice to add to the previous posts is to get an electrician to give you a quote ( get 2 or 3 quotes ) and see if you can do the donkey work of digging the trench etc. this will save quite a bit on the cost. honestly, with the best will in the world, this is not a diy job. i had a minor operation last year. i could have had a go myself, but thought better of it and got a qualified surgeon to do it.

 

[Guitarist]

Regardless of whether you feel "able to have ago", as others have said, supplies to outbuildings come under part P of the building regulations and are notifiable by law. This is because there are many factors which make taking a supply outside the property potentially dangerous. We spend years training as electricians, and with the greatest respect to you, it is not a profession you can simply "learn by doing".
Regarding there being plenty of work.... I can assure you that with more and more people DIY'ing, and many people retraining as electricians with their redundancy money (due to being told that there's plenty of work), the work available is getting thin on the ground.

 

[telectrix]

getting thin? if it was any thinner you could see the moon through it.

 

[Toonlad]

Thin !!!! friken understatement lmao,,,
im on the bones of my @rse