Low voltage lights downstairs

[Andy™]

just because its plasterboard doesnt mean it was designed as fire rated, even though by its construction methods it is

 

[Evans Electric]

That doesn't alter the fact that the ceiling is ,as stated , plasterboard and if skimmed, will be 1/2 hour fire rated , so , ipso facto, the ceiling is ,whether by design or not, fire rated. In the absence of expert advice from an architect etc. , in my humble opinion the fittings would need to be fire rated.

In addition I always thought that if there was a room above ,fire rated fittings are needed.

As Dances with Wolves says above, use fire rated, can't go wrong.

Deke

 

[Andy™]

but just because its fire rated purely because its made form plasterboard doesnt mean it has got to be fire rated. how many plasterboard ceilings have you fitted non FR downlights into?

 

[Lurch]

The OP stated a plasterboard ceiling , so 1/2 hour fire rated at least,

Nope.

Surely all the downstairs ceilings in a house are fire rated.

Nope.

 

[Andy™]

Nope.Nope.

OP did state plasterboard ceiling in post 1...

but no definite answer to if it needed to be FR on not

 

[tom1]

this has been on here befor and i am sure there was a link to a site that says fitting standard downlights would not comprimise the integrity of the celling.

and even if the celling is pink board and skimmed does it make a difference if the house is 1 compartment then there is no need for it to be fire rated in the first place

 

[Evans Electric]

So without somebody looking at the building regs, are you saying that a plasterboard/skimmed ceiling on the ground floor of a two storey house is NOT classed as a fire barrier ?

 

[ianmacd]

So without somebody looking at the building regs, are you saying that a plasterboard/skimmed ceiling on the ground floor of a two storey house is NOT classed as a fire barrier ?

I would disagree with that too unless someone can quote a regulation from the building regs.

 

[Lurch]

So without somebody looking at the building regs, are you saying that a plasterboard/skimmed ceiling on the ground floor of a two storey house is NOT classed as a fire barrier ?

Depends if it's a fire barrier or not. There may be a requirement for it to be fire rated in some circumstances, in which case it will be. Otherwise, it probably won't.

The building regs don;t necessarily come into it. In my house, the ceilings are just there to cover up the joists. Not all ceilings are even made of plasterboard, some areas are wood panelling (not as horrendous as it sounds!). Obviously this was fine in 1980, some regs may have changed, but it would still make no difference as to what I did to the ceilings.

For example, if I came to my house to fit some downlighters and the building regs say the ceiling should be fire rated but it's not the reg isn't retrospective and fitting fire rated downlighters will make no difference as 1 sheet of 9mm board doesn;t make a fire rated surface.

So basically, as I said, the downlighters should match or exceed the fire rating of the surface they are being fitted into, although this may still be OTT in some cases, as is fitting fire rated downlighters on every job, which isn;t wrong, just maybe more likely to fit more stuff than is actually needed.