Garden rooms, sheds & outdoor power
Garden & Outdoor Electrics in Cardiff & Caerphilly
A supply to the garden office, a socket by the patio, lighting along the path or a hot tub on the decking — installed to last outdoors and signed off properly.
- NICEIC registered
- Certified & notified work
- Free quotations
Why outdoor work is treated differently in Wales
In Wales, outdoor lighting and power installations count as special installations under the building regulations, so new electrical work in the garden — or work that involves crossing the garden — is notifiable. England dropped that rule; Wales kept it. With a registered electrician the work is certified through the scheme and you get the compliance certificate; without one, the council has to be notified before work starts.
A detail people often get the wrong way round: a detached shed or garage is not itself a special location. It is the new cable running across the garden to reach it that makes the job notifiable. The full sourced position is in what electrical work needs signing off in Wales.
Power to a garden room, shed or garage
A proper supply to an outbuilding is a dedicated circuit from the house, usually in armoured cable, to a small consumer unit in the building itself. The cable is sized for what the room will actually run — a heater, an air conditioning unit and a kettle are a very different load from a light and a laptop — and for the distance, because a long run loses voltage.
The route and depth are chosen to keep the cable out of the way of future digging, and we record where it runs. How the outbuilding is earthed is a design decision, not an afterthought; depending on the type of supply to the house, it may be earthed from the house or given its own earth electrode. We decide that at survey.
An extension lead through the window is fine for an afternoon. It is not a way to power a building.
Outdoor sockets and lighting
Outdoor sockets need RCD protection and a weatherproof enclosure that is actually rated for where it is going, mounted so water runs off rather than in. Water getting into outdoor fittings is the single most common reason we are called out to an RCD that trips after rain, so the quality of the fitting matters more than it looks.
Garden lighting can run at mains voltage or from a low-voltage transformer; low-voltage systems are easier to move and change as the garden grows. For lights that protect the house rather than decorate the garden, see security lighting.
Hot tubs
A hard-wired hot tub needs its own circuit from the consumer unit, RCD protection and a local isolator so it can be switched off safely for maintenance. The manufacturer's installation instructions set the supply it needs, so have the model to hand when you ask for a quote.
Plug-in tubs are sold as needing no electrician, but they should still run from a suitable, properly protected outdoor socket, not an extension lead across the lawn.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need planning permission for a garden room?
Planning is separate from the electrical sign-off, and many garden rooms fall within permitted development, but not all do. Check with the council for the building; we deal with the electrics and the notification.
How deep does the cable to my shed need to be?
There is no single figure that suits every garden. It needs to be deep enough, and routed so, that it will not be damaged by normal digging, and its route should be recorded. We plan it around your garden and how you use it.
Can you add an EV charger at the same time?
Often, yes, especially if the cable route passes the driveway. We check the house supply can carry both first. See our EV charging page.
Is a socket on the outside wall notifiable in Wales?
New outdoor power is a special installation in Wales, so yes, expect it to be certified and notified. A registered electrician handles that as part of the job.
Free quotes
Planning something outdoors?
Send a photo of where it is going and roughly how far it is from the house.