Dodgy outdoor wiring? Need assistance from RECI certified electrician

theangrypotato

Hi,

my neighbours have put lighting in the shed at the bottom of their garden, around 20 feet away from the back of their house and have run the cable through their back wall from their kitchen (I presume branched from a socket), overground and intertwined with our shared wooden fence (photo attached).

On top of that, the cable that they have used looks like internal flex.

Would a RECI certified engineer be able to tell me if that is ok because I have very serious doubts that it is. I would have expected a different flex to be used and the cable to be buried or at least put in some sort of conduit to keep it away from the elements or vermin. The main reason for such a concern is that the neighbours originally had a bar on their decking with the same wiring which subsequently caught fire and I have a very strong suspicion that the flex may have overheated, or become frayed in someway so that a spark ignited the fire.

Thanks.

M cebee

no it's not suitable

theangrypotato

M cebee wrote: »

no it's not suitable

Hi M cebee, thanks for replying. What should they have done different so? Different flex? Buried? Conduit? Should that external cable even be isolated in the ECB box?

They're getting the same idiot who did that wiring to do their attic conversion next and I fear he's more of a jack the lad than certified anything.

Buford T Justice

If they are running it overground it should be NYM cable, or underground it should be SWA. If they are intending to run a bar or a few things on it, they should be doing a lot more than just running it into a plug inside too.

meercat

agree with above posters.cable is not suitable.no mechanical protection and twin and earth(the cable used) is not suitable for outside.its hard to tell what electrical protection is used inside but i doubt its up to much judging by the attempt with the cable.

Davy

The mind boggles, some people are just clueless