Cables in soil stacks

[Mark2spark]

Hi Guys,

I've recently been told that on new builds (building sites) the 3rd amendment 'bans' us from running cables within soil stacks.

Anyone else heard of this?

On some types of house, with a concrete floor, this is the only route up from the ground floor, where the CU is located.

We keep the cables separate from the 100mm soil pipe so that lagging can be wrapped round it.

I don't see why there would be such an amendment?

 

[pewter]

I did a day about the updates and from everything we went through i can not recall anything about soils stacks. I cant remember any reference in BS7671 to soil stacks ever.

Whoever told you this, can you ask them to quote you which reg exactly.

 

[steptoe]

Surely its a service void,?

As long as your cables are adequately supported, I can't see any issue. 

 

[binky]

someone is pulling your leg

 

[Blue Duck]

sounds like a pretty s****y escape route to me.

  :coat

 

[Evans Electric]

I don't think you'd be in the brown stuff if you took your cables up there , Mark .    This trade is full of excrement such as that  TBH . 

We had a thread on it once ................. "can't run cables horizontally between sockets at dado height".....  "Can't pass a neutral through a switch box " .............."Can't run conduit straight through surface sockets horizontally , must fit a box and tee off to each one  " ...........  "   headbang

In a conduit job,  can't wire ring main legs alternativley from one socket to another  ,   (like from  1 - 3   & 2 -  4   then 3 -5 & 4 -6     etc etc   Because its not a ring :C

 

[ProDave]

As long as we are taliking about OUTSIDE the stink pipe I don't see an issue.

I once found someone who thought it perfectly acceptable to drill into a drain pipe and pass a SWA cable through the inside of a drain pipe to save digging up the patio.  Well the cable is waterproof so what's the problem?

 

[Lusk]

someone is pulling your leg

'Pulling his chain', surely?!

 

[OnOff]

Is someone getting mixed up with cabling in cavities?

.....or is that only if working in dental surgeries? :coat

 

[Mark2spark]

Thanks for your replies.

It's my supervisor that is telling us this, and, of course, he doesn't know the Reg no. that it would be under. He's recently done a 3rd amendment course. He is one of those type of people that "if I say it's so, it is so..."  :innocent

But he further divulged that it might not be an actual *Reg*, more so *guidance* from the NIC. And that it might not be soil pipes per se, but only soil pipes within bathrooms/shower rooms.

He didn't have an answer when I asked where the shaver socket would go then. The shaver socket in this particular house type 'has to' go in the side of the soil stack as there isn't enough room at the side of the basin to site it.

I will explore further and report back.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Well, its a valid point that in the previous regs  (or possibly the part p doc)  it said  only cables for the bathroom should be in the area and  other cables not run through. I  seem to remember this was when the rcd/cables buried less than 50mm   reg was brought in.

You could argue inside  a duct/boxing in formed  to hide a soil pipe  is not in the bathroom, but if something  like ' no cables in pipe ducts' is specified  on a drawing then  thats that what they want.

 

[ProDave]

Put a bit of trunking in there, then you have sub divided it into a pipe duct and a separate cable duct.

 

[binky]

your supervisor talks from his bottom. The only thing I would say, is that it is best to keep the cables tidy in case anyone has to repair the soil pipe itself. There's nothing more annoying than cables wrapped around the pipe - PDs idea is good for that, but don't forget derating due to bunching cables

 

[kerching]

I,think Slips has a point there in post #11

just recalling

 

[Andy™]

are we talking about the cables being in the same area alongside the soil stack, or actually in the soil stack?!

hopefully its the first, in which case i cant see any problems other than support

and as for run through the bathroom, if the soil stack is adequately boxed in, then id say within it is not part of the bathroom, the same as if was in a false wall between bathroom and another room

 

[binky]

or in a cupboad in a bathrom

or in a cupboad in a bathrom

 

[Tony S]

Many moons ago I got involved in an argument about a bus-duct in the same service riser as potable water and waste water………

Think about it………..

 

[Adrian]

or in a cupboad in a bathrom

or in a cupboad in a bathrom

It's a big bathroom it has an echo

 

[Mark2spark]

are we talking about the cables being in the same area alongside the soil stack, or actually in the soil stack?!

Yeah, same 'area', ie within the plasterboarded part, but not inside the plastic pipe obviously  :slap

 

[Mark2spark]

your supervisor talks from his bottom. The only thing I would say, is that it is best to keep the cables tidy in case anyone has to repair the soil pipe itself. There's nothing more annoying than cables wrapped around the pipe - PDs idea is good for that, but don't forget derating due to bunching cables

Yeah, cables are segregated, have a couple of cable ties around them, supported from the top with cable clips.

This de-rating thing (especially for light circuits) is out of the window now, (for new builds), even if you have 10 light points on the circuit, the maximum size lamp we fit is 11 W cfl, so less than half an amp per circuit. It would take quite a bit of correction factor to get 1.0mm t & e down to half an amp