Electric cable in wall

I'm in the middle of some decorating and whilst stripping some wallpaper in the living room, some plaster has come away, within that plaster is the electric feed cable for our fire, this runs horizontally accross the wall.

I was under the impression that ALL electric cables had to run vertically within walls, either up to, or down to a socket and/or appliance. Can anyone confirm is this is true or not?

Steve...

 

Used to be as per the regs in my day Steve.
But, that was a good few years ago now and I am a tad out of touch with the latest regs.

 

Hi Steve

Not my field but would have thought that would make sense . However I was doing some work on my daughters and I found on going diagonally across the wall?

Maybe what called a Friday job !!!

Dave

 

[size=large]Hi Steve R - see if you can find any indications for wire regulations below, check the link just before the table of contents.

[/size][size=x-small]http://blog.sparksdirect.co.uk/wiring-regulations-17th-edition-bs7671-introduction-to-the-iee-wiring-regulations/[/size]

 

They have to run down from above or up from the floor.
Don't get in touch with building regs unless you can afford a complete re wire, they could make you do it.

 

Was probably put in by former owners? not by a qualified electrician. Good job you weren't screwing something to the wall there or banging in a nail!!!:DOH:

Val

 

So if diagonal & horizontal cable routing contravenes Building Regs &/or IEE Regs, what about all those such connections in a kitchen because an underworktop washing machine/fridge/dishwasher/freezer/etc. is underneath a window and incapable of having having a vertical cable connection between the socket outlet it's connected to controlled by a switched fused spur that cannot be positioned in the window above, and must be to one side?

Same with a cooker switch (so it's not positioned above hot rings), and possibly the switch for a tall fridge/freezer unit. I've seen all these connections installed diagonally/horizontally.

And are there still a certain number of 'spurred' connections permitted, and can't these be connected horizontally if in close proximity?:

 

Not got the book down here to check that Scrungee, electrics aren't my main area, but I would think that the cables should be surface mounted. Its when its hidden by plaster that you don't want any suprises.

 

My House is Nearly 100 Years Old, and over the years there have been several Modifications as i have found out the hard way. In the loft there are cables going nowhere, pipes ,old water tanks. just to mention a few.
I have found cables just sunk below the plaster, Vertical/horizontal and any other ( AL ) you can think of .
One instance i was fixing a soap rack onto the bathroom tiles. i had to drill 2 holes through the tiles to place in raw plugs. fortunately for me ,i was waiting for a visit from the Gas company's yearly Safety check.
I did feel very uncomfortable pre-drilling . When the Gas Engineer came to the door i asked him if he had a wall scanner handy i could borrow, fortunately he had . He Scanned on the area i was going to drill . the alarm went off on the scanner, there were water pipes just where i was going to drill !!.

I have now Purchased A Bosch Cable/Metal /wood detector . this i use before i put a nail in the wall.

 

Thanks for the info all, I have a cable/joist/pipe detector it was just a surprise to come accoss a horizontal wire as I never have before. Its nearly 30 years since I last worked within the building industry and I'm certain the up/down rule was in force then...barring difficult situations such as already mentioned around windows.

Steve...