I have a few wires running out through the walls for external wall lights. We havn't chosen the lights yet and I am nervous of fitting them too soon in case they get knocked or damaged when materials, wheel barrows etc get used for doing our garden patio etc. next year.

However it is a pain to have wall switch plates the sparky has not put on yet inside the house. He doesn't want to make the outside cables live until the lights get fitted.

Looking on line it seems it might be acceptable to seal off these live wires outside using Wiska Mini Gel boxes and Wago connectors, which would just leave a small inch square box on the end. Do I have this right and has anyone used these mini gel boxes or can otherwise comment ?

PS Any chance Building Control would sign off with these still in place, or are they likely to insist every light must be fitted ?

https://youtu.be/Qxob_J5-5JY?si=9__2qtHX7f_Uhmd_

Dunno about building control but all the advice I've seen about external lights is to save yourself future hassle by only fitting low voltage lights. Run mains to a control box and put the transformers/drivers in there and from there run everything at 12/24v. That is then both DIYable without any sign off and also less likely to cause a problem/need an electrician to fix it if there is water ingress somewhere in future (inevitable at some point).

You could have your electrician mount an external water proof box with socket outlets inside it for you to then plug in whatever you want later (have them controlled by light switches inside if you want.

Nice idea but it is already wired, and as I already have '4 switch' wall plates with a mixture of internal and external lights wired in together would create a mixture of high and low voltage switches in the same back box (unwise).

Plus most of the common external wall light designs seem to be 240V.

I have separate dedicated armoured cables going out for garden lighting etc. I am just talking 6 wall lights with wires currently poking out of render or cladding.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Spinny

Just now, Spinny said:

Nice idea but it is already wired, and as I already have '4 switch' wall plates with a mixture of internal and external lights wired in together would create a mixture of high and low voltage switches in the same back box (unwise).

So the wires going outside are all run to the end destination? Sorry, I initially read what you said as meaning there were cables going outside but not currently going anywhere but can see that might be a misread on a second reading.

I was not proposing mixed voltage at the switches. Just that the switches would switch a 240v socket in an outside waterproof enclosure (near the house) where you would then in future add low voltage transformers and low voltage wiring from there to the fitting locations.

OK yeah, I anticipate using low voltage for garden lighting using separate cables going out at ground level. But these cables run through the structure to pop out of finished walls ready to fix wall sconces/uplighter/downlighter/spots according to what we choose.

Those Mini GEL boxes look like a simple way to seal the wires off. The sparky mentioned using big IP67 junction boxes that might themselves then damage the wall finish and get in the way. I anticipate a lot of hardcore and slabs and stuff having to come down the side of the house.

Those mini gell boxes are fantastic. Like magic!

Used a good number doing my outside light installation. All 12v mind as allready suggested above.

6 minutes ago, Spinny said:

OK yeah, I anticipate using low voltage for garden lighting using separate cables going out at ground level. But these cables run through the structure to pop out of finished walls ready to fix wall sconces/uplighter/downlighter/spots according to what we choose.

Gotcha

6 minutes ago, Spinny said:

Those Mini GEL boxes look like a simple way to seal the wires off. The sparky mentioned using big IP67 junction boxes that might themselves then damage the wall finish and get in the way. I anticipate a lot of hardcore and slabs and stuff having to come down the side of the house.

The GEL boxes are supposedly great for what they do but I can't see any electrician making live circuits that are unterminated. You either need to give him a fitting to wire up or have him wire up a standards compliant socket for you to then later use.

I suppose you could have him come in and wire in all the fixtures and fittings as they are supposed to be then go round after he leaves and take them down again and put the wires into something waterproof. But you risk problems doing that (and even then only do it if very comfortable with electrics and the safety around them).

You don't really want to have to try and use previously terminated ends that have subsequently been detached and exposed to the environment.

Well I think he just doesn't want to be going in and out of the same switch back box multiple times. Once to wire 2 switches, then again later to wire another switch, then a third time to wire the fourth switch. He would normally connect all the earths together etc in the back box using wagos, etc etc so in once done. I understand that.

However if he went in once now, wired it all including the cables running outside, then tested and capped off the outside wires, I can't see a problem provided it meets code, Presumably it does or else Wiska wouldn't make these things ?

I can't see a lot of difference between a Wiska Mini Gel box and the probably less safe case on some cheap outside lights. They will all be switched lives anyway.

In fact I will be putting smart home relay modules onto them all too (inside the back box), so if using modules with a 'detach' mode, I could simply turn the relay permanently off in detached mode, and the outside wire would not even be live unless (a) that setting was changed and (b) the switch was turned on.