Is the postman walking up a driveway to a house or flat past outdoor lighting public access?

Is the postman walking up a driveway to a house or flat past outdoor lighting public access?

No Andy. Realistically I don't think so, and premises does not mean buildings, it is an area of land owned by a person. If you read 714.411.202 you will also see that disconnection times of 5 sec are expected for street furniture, and no number is given for your average private garden item except that additional protection by RCD IS required. None of this is either consistent or makes much sense. Street furniture is much more likely to be touched by the Public, the odd garden item is very unlikely to even be touched by the householder. Why is a bus shelter more dangerous than a lamp post? Gardens and drives are actually private, not public areas, You will see in 714.1 that Gardens are obviously Public Gardens, along with all the other Public spaces.

I'm afraid this is another bit of badly drafted feature creep in BS7671.

Sparkingchip said:

Is the postman walking up a driveway to a house or flat past outdoor lighting public access?

Yes, I think that it is. Or in fact anybody who has lawful reason to be on the premises.

At first, I wondered whether it might include my front porch light, but that and the floodlights are beyond reach so they are not.

I envisage illuminated bollards beside the drive, illuminated house numbers, etc.