On January 1st 2005 new building regulations called Part P came into effect. These regulations state that you can not install any fixed wiring in a garden without notifying your local building control office.

Part P also states that work carried out on fix wiring in the garden should be carried out by a competent person, then later inspected by a Part P registered electrician.

Any fixed electrical installation is therefore going to cost a lot of money if you are not a Qualified member of an elite club. One way around this expense is to run your electrical items from a standard 13amp plug. This is not classed as fixed wiring so it is not affected by Part P regs.

If the socket is situated outdoors it must be weather proof, it is far easier to have the socket in the house or a water tight shed.

It is also essential that any outdoor electrics are protected by a Residual current device (RCD). If your main consumer unit does not have one, then a plug in RCD should be used. This device will cut the power immediately if there is an inbalance between live and neutral, in other words it will cut the power before you or your fish get an electrical shock.

Any electrical connections made outside should be safely enclosed inside a weather proof housing, you can use a weather proof box, or you can buy weather proof switching units.

For non fixed wiring .75mm flex is normally used, this will take around 1000 watts at mains voltage and has thicker insulation than .5mm flex. Always make sure the flex is fused at the correct value.

Any cable that is going to be buried should be protected by an additional layer, alkathene tubing is ideal. If the cable is going to be buried under a traffic bearing surface metal protection is required.

This information may out of date at time of viewing, if in doubt contact a qualified electrician.