Running Leccy to Garage

[OllieNZ]

Hi All,
I'm looking at running leccy out to my garage and would like some advice/input before I go as far as consulting/hiring a sparky.
Plan is;
-Main feed from a new breaker in existing consumer unit.
-Punch a hole in the external house wall above the consumer unit and feed cable outside.
-Run the cable along the external house wall (approx 8ft up) and across a 4ft gap to the garage.
-Punch through the garage wall and feed the cable into a garage consumer unit with RCD.
-Wire up lights, sockets etc in garage.
In my mind I've got a couple of issues I'm struggling to resolve.
-Protecting the external cable? Can I use T&E in conduit? Armoured cable? Armoured cable in conduit? Metal or plastic conduit.
-Height for the overhead cable?
According to Regulation 412-05-01

4.1 . Regulations 17(2) Minimum height for Overhead Lines generally .
According to regulation 17(2) and Schedule 2, the minimum heights for lines used or intended for use at 33 kV or below (which includes low voltage lines) are:
(i) 5.8 m over roads accessible to vehicular traffic, and
(ii) 5.2 m at any other point.
( Minimum height of Overhead Lines up to 33 kV )

4.2. Regulation 17(3) Exemptions from Regulation 17(2)
Regulation 17(3) indicates that the following three types of overhead line equipment need not comply with regulation 17(2), provided the equipment is not installed over a road:
(i) Overhead lines which are fully insulated (that is, insulated for the full working voltage and, where necessary, sheathed to afford mechanical protection)
(ii) Exposed conductors connecting an overhead line with equipment that is fixed to an overhead line support (such as a pole mounted transformer , provided the conductors are at least 4.3 m above the ground
(iii) Lines which are connected with earth (such as earth wires, or neutral conductors on low voltage networks)

The way I read that, is that as long as the cable is insulated and mechanically protected (and not over a road) the height requirements don't apply.
Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Ollie,
My own garage, was wired up by the sparks that worked for the builder that built it, wired it up as you have described.
ie: plastic conduit with 32amp T&E from the consumer unit in the kitchen to its own unit in the garage, it runs over the
top of the kitchen door & through the sofit above the garage door.
Now this was done in the eighties so the reg's might have changed
F.W.I.W if I was doing it I would use galvanised metal conduit, hope this helps, good luck with the project
DDD.

PS.
The house we had before that had a concrete constructional garage in the back garden to the side & back of the house,
This was wired up from the consumer unit by T&E through a hole in the wall aprox eight feet up, no armour cable or conduit
just cable cliped to the wall & then over head to the garage still at eight feet up just hanging by a peice of fencing wire
nailed to the wall & the garage with the T&E cable tied to it
I'm not convinced that it was up to code, but I didn't do it.
We bought the house like that & sold it like that, so two surveys & nothing flaged up
Oh & before us it was rented out

[Bailes1992]

Get some pictures on here, let me know what you're planning on running out the garage and I will advise accordingly!

[Welly]

Our house was built in 2003 and has a detached Garage, the power supply goes from the Consumer Unit's RCD in T&E and then as it exits the brickwork it converts to Steel Wired Armoured cable within a metal conduit box....goes underground (which would've been easy at the time of building) and pops back up at the Garage wall and into a small consumer unit...but a fused type split into 32 amps for Power and 6 amps for Lighting with a big ON/OFF rocker switch on the front.

I also used to be able to get my car in the Garage

Oh and I'm guessing you'd need some special kit to make off the ends of the SWA and to connect the outer earth sheathing??

[OllieNZ]

Thanks for the input guys

Get some pictures on here, let me know what you're planning on running out the garage and I will advise accordingly!

Will do Bailes, thanks.
I'm planning on running lights and power tools. It would also be nice to have a dedicated 16a socket for my welder.
I worked out 6mm2 should be sufficient for the expected loads over the 10m length of the run.

[Doggy]

Oh and I'm guessing you'd need some special kit to make off the ends of the SWA and to connect the outer earth sheathing??

Serioulsly though, it's a lot easier to use SWA, (or SY), with a dedicated earth conductor where you're not using metal enclosures at both ends.