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Gardens and outbuildingsHow deep does a buried garden cable go?
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Exactly as they are on the site.
- Bury garden cables at least 500 mm deep, preferably deeper, and at least 600 mm where "double digging" is likely, such as a vegetable plot. About 2 ft (600 mm) is the usual.
- Lay marker tape or cable tiles about 150 mm below the surface along the route, so a spade hits the warning first.
- Use SWA (armoured) or a metal-sheathed cable, or run it in a conduit or duct (like a flexible hoover pipe). Bedding it in sifted sand is common practice. Burying is best practice, but SWA clipped along a fence or wall is also used.
- Mark the route with route markers and record it on the drawings kept with the EIC, so the next person knows where it runs.
- What BS 7671 says (Reg 522.8.10): no depth is given. Unless it is in a conduit or duct giving equivalent mechanical protection, a buried cable needs an earthed armour or metal sheath suitable for use as a protective conductor. Its route is marked with cable covers or marker tape, and it goes deep enough to avoid damage from any reasonably foreseeable disturbance of the ground. The depths above come from the Electrician's Guide, not BS 7671.
- Outbuildings (sheds, garages) are usually fed from the house consumer unit to a small distribution board in the outbuilding, with its own switch and sockets.
Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs · 5.7.2 fixed cables: buried cables in gardens (depth, marker tape) · p.96 BS 7671 · Reg 522.8.10 buried cables · p.153 Electrician's Guide to the Building Regs · Figure 5.7.3 outbuilding supply · p.97
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