How to get services to static caravan during the build

[MirandaPoth]

Morning all! I love this forum, it's become our 'go to' place for sensible information about self building. I hope I'm posting this in the right place, please let me know if not.

 

We will be living on site in an old static caravan during our MBC build. It's in place, we have electricity, propane gas and sewer connections,  and we're currently getting water via a hose pipe from next door's outside tap when we need it. Our 'temp to perm' water connection is due shortly, as is our BT phone connection, so we will be good to go, in theory ...

 

However, how do we get the water and the phone line to the caravan? Both come in at the front of the plot, and the caravan is at the back, about 40 metres away. The electricity gets there via an armoured cable laid on the ground along the perimeter of the plot, can we do the same with these? Or do we need to dig a temporary trench and bury them? And/or some ducting? If ducting, can we put them in the same one?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Russell griffiths]

Telephone, can you pull a tight string from the caravan to the pole via any local trees hedges, it really doesn’t need to be fancy, tie a few markers on it to save the digger swiping it. Obviously needs to be high enough for a truck to get under and tip. 

 

Water would be very dependent on your site layout

you could bury it correctly right up to the house ready to go in with a cap on the end, then have a tee off to your temporary home which once removed could become an outside tap, 

[ProDave]

Water connection. It will come onto your plot and there will be a stopcock in the ground provided by the supplier. That is where the water company's responsibility ends.  It is then up to you to connect water to where you want it.

 

What I did was buy 3 more stopcocks like these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/atplas-box/123160048227?hash=item1cace93263:g:5uwAAOSwLe5avhqT

 

Yes I know that listing has ended but it shows what you want.

 

I used 3 of them, one feeds the standpipe for building water (which will remain as a garden tap) One feeds the static caravan (which in our case is remaining after the build) and the third feeds water to the house.

 

Doing it this way you do it once and once only.  I would bury the pipes to protect them from damage and frost.

 

You are supposed to fit a double check valve on the feed to the caravan and the standpipe, and Scottish Water refused our connection initially until we had fitted them.

 

Telephone, is it overhead or underground?

 

Normally the engineer that makes the connection is flexible, get them to route it to the caravan but leave plenty of cable coiled up so it is long enough to reach into your house when you are ready. I would not trouble the telephone co with the move, your electrician can move it when you are ready.

[epsilonGreedy]

31 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

you could bury it correctly right up to the house ready to go in with a cap on the end, then have a tee off to your temporary home which once removed could become an outside tap,

 

 

This is what my self build neigbour has done i.e. proper water supply trenching to the front of the house, then a temp T connection and a long run of garden hose to the caravan.

[Russell griffiths]

6 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

This is what my self build neigbour has done i.e. proper water supply trenching to the front of the house, then a temp T connection and a long run of garden hose to the caravan.

Why use garden hose 20mm mdpe is pennies is a lot tougher and can stay either in the floor when finished or cap it off and leave it dead.