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Skirting with wiring channel


ToughButterCup

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Somebody recently wrote about MDF skirting and linked to this (or a similar) page. The image shows a skirting run with a wiring channel cut into the back of the board. Great idea, I thought!

 

Then my caution circuit clicked over to 'On' . It's such a neat idea, there must be something wrong with it.

 

Is there?

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It's probably one of the daftest ideas I've heard of.  The idea of hiding wiring behind something that is outside the approved safe zones like this should be outlawed.  It's one thing to run wiring outside safe zones within surface mounted trunking or conduit, where it's obvious that wires may be present, but quite another to hide them behind something that no one would suspect has wires behind.

 

FWIW the safe zones on a  wall are vertically above and below any switch or outlet, horizontally between switches or outlets or horizontally behind the top edge of the wall.  Running cables under floors and in ceilings is also OK.  Worth noting that safe zones on stud walls extend right through the wall, so expect wires on the opposite side of a wall too.

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Yes it is definitely outside of safe zones for fixed electrical wiring.

 

I guess you could use it for AV ,  Network, Telephone, tv aerial cables etc where the consequences of sticking a nail through a cable are not so severe.

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1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

FWIW the safe zones on a  wall are vertically above and below any switch or outlet, horizontally between switches or outlets or horizontally behind the top edge of the wall.

 

… and vertically alongside corners (convex or concave).

 

Guess how a friend found an oil pipe running in the back of skirting board? House smelt of oil for months.

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I think it would need some sort of metal conduit  in there anyway to be code -

certainly  it used to be so -

jts like you must cover wiring buried in walls with a capping or in a conduit, unless things have changed

Its DIY bodge up thing not for new build

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I would say that if someone wanted to do that or similar, then use the "quadrant trunking" - though it probably meets a different need.

 

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DL2D22QSW.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=315107931576

 

Also arguably a bodge, but at least no one will drill holes in it.

 

Ferdinand

 

DL3D30QWSA.JPG

Edited by Ferdinand
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FWIW, in the 18th Ed, what were safe zones are now prescribed zones, although AFAICS nothing else has changed. 

 

Wiring in walls within prescribed zones does not require metal capping or additional mechanical protection, nothing seems to have changed for a fair while in the regs.  The section from the 18th covering this looks much the same in terms of general requirements as that from the 17th:

 

Quote

522.6.201 A cable installed under a floor or above a ceiling shall be run in such a position that it is not liable to be damaged by contact with the floor or ceiling or their fixings.  A cable passing through a joist within a floor or ceiling construction or through a ceiling support (e.g. under floorboards), shall:

 

(i) be installed at least 50 mm measured vertically from the top, or bottom as appropriate, of the joist or batten, or

 

(ii) comply with Regulation 522.6.204.

 

522.6.202 A cable installed in a wall or partition at a depth of less than 50mm from a surface of the wall or partition shall:

 

(i) be installed in a zone within 150mm from the top of the wall or partition or within 150mm of an angle formed by two adjoining walls or partitions. Where the cable is connected to a point, accessory or switchgear on any surface of the wall or partition, the cable may be installed in a zone either horizontally or vertically, to the point, accessory or switchgear. Where the location of the accessory, point or switchgear can be determined from the reverse side, a zone formed on one side of a wall of 100mm thickness or less or partition of 100mm thickness or less extends to the reverse side, or

 

(ii) comply with Regulation 522.6.204.

 

Where indent (i) but not indent (ii) applies, the cable shall be provided with additional protection by means of an RCD having the characteristics specified in Regulation 415.1.1.

 

522.6.203 Irrespective of its buried depth, a cable concealed in a wall or partition, the internal construction of which includes metallic parts, other than metallic fixings such as nails, screws and the like, shall:

 

(i) be provided with additional protection by means of an RCD having the characteristics specified in Regulation 4 15.1.1,or

 

(ii) comply with Regulation 522.6.204.

 For a cable installed at a depth of less than 50 mm from the surface of a wall or partition the requirements of Regulation 522.6.202(i) shall also apply.

 

522.6.204 For the purposes of Regulation 522.6.201 (ii), Regulation 522.6.202(ii) and Regulation 522.6.203( ii), a cable shall:

 

(i) incorporate an earthed metallic covering which complies with the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor of the circuit concerned, the cable complying with BS 5467, BS 6724, BS 7846, BS 8436 or BS EN 60702-1 , or

 

(ii) be installed in earthed conduit complying with BS EN 61386-21 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

(iii) be enclosed in earthed trunking or ducting complying with BS EN 50085-2-1 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

(iv) be provided with mechanical protection against damage sufficient to prevent penetration of the cable by nails, screws and the like, or

 

(v) form part of a SELV or PELV circuit meeting the requirements of Regulation 414.4

 

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If you say so but that last paragraph i would read it different.

 

i) incorporate an earthed metallic covering which complies with the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor of the circuit concerned, the cable complying with BS 5467, BS 6724, BS 7846, BS 8436 or BS EN 60702-1 , or

 

 

(ii) be installed in earthed conduit complying with BS EN 61386-21 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

 

 

(iii) be enclosed in earthed trunking or ducting complying with BS EN 50085-2-1 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

 

 

(iv) be provided with mechanical protection against damage sufficient to prevent penetration of the cable by nails, screws and the like, or

 

 

 

(v) form part of a SELV or PELV circuit meeting the requirements of Regulation 414.4

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51 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

I would say that if someone wanted to do that or similar, then use the "quadrant trunking" - though it probably meets a different need.

 

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DL2D22QSW.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=315107931576

 

Also arguably a bodge, but at least no one will drill holes in it.

 

Ferdinand

 

DL3D30QWSA.JPG

not hidden looking something its not 

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8 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

If you say so but that last paragraph i would read it different.

 

i) incorporate an earthed metallic covering which complies with the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor of the circuit concerned, the cable complying with BS 5467, BS 6724, BS 7846, BS 8436 or BS EN 60702-1 , or

 

 

(ii) be installed in earthed conduit complying with BS EN 61386-21 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

 

 

(iii) be enclosed in earthed trunking or ducting complying with BS EN 50085-2-1 and satisfying the requirements of these Regulations for a protective conductor, or

 

 

 

(iv) be provided with mechanical protection against damage sufficient to prevent penetration of the cable by nails, screws and the like, or

 

 

 

(v) form part of a SELV or PELV circuit meeting the requirements of Regulation 414.4

 

 

Read it again, in the context of the heading of that section that you failed to quote...

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