Total Re-Wire, Steels and cables

[tickover]

Hi all
cant find anything in the regs on this one so guess it purely experience...
Im on my a re-wire where they have decided to gut the place and completely rearrange everything. I returned to site today to start work and they have installed a number of steels (rsj's) around the place making running cables a pain, like the ground floor celling, cellar celling and loft space all running opposite to the directions of the joists (bar one).
What i am wondering is can I run cables along length of the bottom of steels on the celling side or is this fround upon as this would mean that I would not need to drill holes in the floor joists to get the cables from A to B.

Cheers Guys

 

[JUD]

Have a read of Regulation 522.6.5. Cables above a ceiling should be at least 50mm from the bottom of the joists so that they are not likely to be damaged by contact with the ceiling or it's fixings.

Hope that helps

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Hi all
cant find anything in the regs on this one so guess it purely experience...
Im on my a re-wire where they have decided to gut the place and completely rearrange everything. I returned to site today to start work and they have installed a number of steels (rsj's) around the place making running cables a pain, like the ground floor celling, cellar celling and loft space all running opposite to the directions of the joists (bar one).
What i am wondering is can I run cables along length of the bottom of steels on the celling side or is this fround upon as this would mean that I would not need to drill holes in the floor joists to get the cables from A to B.

Cheers Guys

Have the RSJ's been installed in such a way that they are supporting the joists above, my thinking is this way because you say they run in the opposite direction to the joists except one. Have you looked in the Electricians guide to the building regs and the OSG?

Jud is again correct with his quote, but sometimes we need to bend the rules and note it as a departure but with steel it is important that to make sure the cables dont become trapped and crushed. We can only do what we can do. RCD everything and if cables cross or are clipped to the steel then bond them also (I usually put a 4mm earth to the steel with a clamp and bond into nearest convenient socket/switch or whatever is easiest. There is no requirement to bond structural steel if it isnt exposed! i prefer the common sense route.

Cheers.........Howard

Cheers.........Howard

 

[Gravid]

Don't know if I'd run them underneath ceiling side, surely they've got to be boxed in, or I have seen plasterbrd stuck straight to the underside before now. I'd drill the joists, or go under at the sides in your 150 zone.

Never seen ceiling RSJ's bonded before whats the point in that?

 

[chris gray]

id adhere to the 150 zone