Underground cable marking

[Timmo]

Are you at least allowed to dig the hole to lay the cable in?

Of course you can dig the hole to lay the cable in it!
Some Electricians on this site will have you believe you cant change a light globe!

yes it's ambiguous, but a light globe is a plug in appliance.

[elkangorito]

See the attached file for the reasons why you should employ a licensed electrician to do your job. How many headaches do you want?

[Vernonv]

Thanks Elkangorito.

Is that from the latest version of the standard?

[Barry_White]

See the attached file for the reasons why you should employ a licensed electrician to do your job. How many headaches do you want?

Whats difficult about that and that's pretty straight forward but where's the tables to go with that extract from AS3000.

If you are going to break the forums electricians rules of not giving out information on how and what to do and not do you might as well give it all out so anyone doing their own electrical can at least get it right.

[wdyte_dan]

This question still confuses me - on the one hand, several people here agree that an eletrician probably won't be interested in digging holes and trenches for laying cables (and few would be interested in paying hourly rates for him to do this).

On the other hand, there is a reluctance to give the specs on how to properly prepare the trench.

I was always under the impression that (at least some) sparkys are comfortable with some degree of roughing if done properly, I would have thought laying a conduit (and possibly a suitable cable in a trench (obviously with a view to getting a contractor to connect it) would have saved time and money.

[silentC]

Firstly, the standard is available to anyone, you don't have to be a sparky to buy a copy of it. The information posted by Elkangorito is from that standard.

Secondly, yes you are right, I have yet to see a sparky dig a trench - you normally hire a backhoe or trench digger for that - but the sparky is responsible for making sure it is of the correct depth and location and that the correct materials are used for conduit and marking etc.

So anybody can dig the trench but only a sparky or someone directly supervised by one can put something in it. If you lay the cable yourself, fill the trench and then call a sparky, unless he is a very trusting individual, he should pull it out and redo it, or walk away from the job - simply because it is his license on the line if you did something wrong. I know it's not rocket science and it would be hard to stuff up, providing you know what type of cable to use, but they're the legalities of it.

You'll find that most objections to posting wiring info are to do with people asking questions about how to wire up lights etc, usually along the lines of "I have several wires of such and such a colour, where do I put them?" or "how do I install a dimmer switch" etc. These are examples of people asking others to interpret the standards for them and tell them how to do something they're clearly not qualified to do.

[Barry_White]

So if you really have an urge to do your own wiring and want to get it right just go here and fork out the readies.

http://www.saiglobal.com/shop/script...AS0733783910AT

[patty]

I have been wire jerking for over 20yrs and have dug many a trench well the ditchwitch dug the trench I cleaned it out and put the conduit in and backfilled but I found I just didnt have the time to dig trenches and how could i justify charging builders 3-4 hrs @60 bucks an hr+ hire of machine???when most had their own machines and labourers to do the job!

[silentC]

Exactly. But the point I'm making is that although the sparky doesn't have to physically dig the trench, and in most cases these days he doesn't, he is responsible for it and it is dug under his guidance because he is responsible for the whole job.

If you've been operating a backhoe long enough, you would know how deep a trench for electricals must be, but you don't just turn up and start digging, someone has to tell you where to start and where to finish. Often that might be the builder following consultation with the sparky, but the sparky is ultimately responsible.

[juan]

Firstly, the standard is available to anyone, you don't have to be a sparky to buy a copy of it. The information posted by Elkangorito is from that standard.

And it is copyright material. It is ok to quote the gist of what is required by a standard but posting a copy of that material either whole or in part is a breach of the Copyright Act 1968.

[TJAY]

If they had a driver's license, they wouldn't have to ask. If I have to tell them what a stop sign is this should be a clear indication that they should not be behind the wheel of a car at all and the best thing for me to do is call the cops before they kill someone.

You say that, and yet I was in a taxi recently when we were stopped at a set of lights. The cab driver turned around and asked me if I'd mind him asking a question. I said of course not. He then asked if he was allowed to turn left on a red light.

Whoever passed him for his license clearly didn't check too hard, and apparently he'd seen so many other cabs do it he assumed it was okay. Thank-god he at least had the brains to ask me first.

[silentC]

Let's not get started on idiots on the road!

But at least he had a license through which he can be punished and third party insurance to cover your medical costs when he gets T-boned.

[silentC]

It is ok to quote the gist of what is required by a standard but posting a copy of that material either whole or in part is a breach of the Copyright Act 1968.

Yeah I wondered about that. I know there is a fair dealing exception that covers partial reproductions for educational purposes.

But the point is, you don't require a license to own a copy.