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Conduit requirements and cable type

Former Community Member
Former Community Member

I’m in the process of installing seven hard wired fire alarms into our property all of which have to be interlinked.



I intend to re use a now empty steel conduit that runs from right beside our consumer unit up into the loft space. The steel conduit at its point of entry into the loft terminates there presumably the rest was removed in the past. I want to run a cable from there which will have to do an up and over brickwork in the loft.



My first question, is it acceptable in compliance with electrical regulations to simply clip the cable to the brick at the mortar joints or do I have to or even if strictly not necessary should I, put the cable in PVC conduit? This area is not trafficked.



Once I have crossed the brick work and come down to the first alarm, from there I intend to run a cable down the near center of the loft adjacent to the walkway in pvc conduit parallel to the 2 existing lighting circuit conduits located above the joists. I am not going to drill through the joists. At points along the conduit there will be junctions to allow clipped cable not in conduit to be ran parallel to the joists to the relevant alarm. The conduit is going to be a straight run, so my question is having consulted a few sources that state 1.5mm flexible cable not twin and earth must be used in conduit, does it? I understand the reason for flexible cable in conduit with a lot of turns and junctions but this is a straight run.


Thanks


Parents
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Have you seen the cost of those? Eight will cost a small fortune. The thinking is that pay a little more now with wiring etc which is still far less than the radio linked and when they need replacing every 10 years it's not going to cost another small fortune. 


    This has been brought in Scotland thanks to Grenfel towers and our esteemed leadership up here bringing in a law for interlinked alarms. The irony is that we are in a solid brick build with internal render then plastered. MDF skirting, and laminated MDF flooring. There is very little that can actually contribute towards proper fuel for a fire and we checked the labels of items such as the soft, bed covers etc, all made of fire resistant materials, so how a serious fire would occur is a bit questionable. To start a fire we would literally need to take a blow torch to most items to get them ignited. Only the electrics could be a source of ignition, but I did all the re -wiring and had it checked and certified by my qualified electrician. 


    Still it's not as stupid as the council representative who insisted that the communal hallway be painted in fire proof paint. The walls are again brick and render. Even if you were to deliberately pile up wood and start a fire, I wouldn't be too worried.
Reply
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Have you seen the cost of those? Eight will cost a small fortune. The thinking is that pay a little more now with wiring etc which is still far less than the radio linked and when they need replacing every 10 years it's not going to cost another small fortune. 


    This has been brought in Scotland thanks to Grenfel towers and our esteemed leadership up here bringing in a law for interlinked alarms. The irony is that we are in a solid brick build with internal render then plastered. MDF skirting, and laminated MDF flooring. There is very little that can actually contribute towards proper fuel for a fire and we checked the labels of items such as the soft, bed covers etc, all made of fire resistant materials, so how a serious fire would occur is a bit questionable. To start a fire we would literally need to take a blow torch to most items to get them ignited. Only the electrics could be a source of ignition, but I did all the re -wiring and had it checked and certified by my qualified electrician. 


    Still it's not as stupid as the council representative who insisted that the communal hallway be painted in fire proof paint. The walls are again brick and render. Even if you were to deliberately pile up wood and start a fire, I wouldn't be too worried.
Children
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