Sheds · garden offices · outbuildings
Getting power to a shed, garden office or outbuilding is a fixed electrical installation: buried steel-wired armoured cable from the house, the right protection at both ends, and usually a small consumer unit in the building. It is notifiable work, so it has to be tested and certified. Jack looks at your garden and your fuse board in person, then puts a written quote in your hands within 24 hours, so you know the exact figure before anything starts.
qualified electrician 4.8 on Google, 26 reviews Based in Dalgety Bay, Fife
What's involved
A correctly done shed or garden-office supply has a few non-negotiable parts. Done this way, the outbuilding behaves like a safe, certified extension of your home's electrics, rather than a bodge that fails the first wet winter.
01
Survey the garden and the board
Jack looks at the route from the house to the building, the ground it crosses, the load you need out there, and whether your existing fuse board and main supply can take the new circuit. The design depends on distance and demand, so this comes first.
02
Run buried SWA armoured cable
Steel-wired armoured cable, sized for the load and the distance, is run in a trench deep enough to protect it, with warning tape laid above. Where it makes sense, SWA can be clipped high along a wall or fence to save digging. Walls, patios and drives are worked into the plan.
03
Protect both ends + fit a sub-board
The new circuit gets its own correctly rated protection at the house end, and most installations get a small consumer unit in the outbuilding with RCD protection, so lights, sockets and heating out there are properly protected and separately switched.
04
Test, certify and notify
The whole installation is tested and certified to BS 7671, and you get the completion certificate. You get the paperwork that proves it is safe and signed off.
No surprises
A single outdoor socket or one light can be wired more simply. Anything you actually spend time in, an office, a workshop, a gym, is far better served by its own little board.
A typical job
A common job around Fife and Edinburgh: a new garden room or office that needs proper power for lighting, sockets, heating and the day-to-day kit of working from home. Jack runs SWA from the house, fits a small sub-board out there with its own RCD protection, and certifies the lot, so it is warm, lit and safe to work in year-round, with paperwork a future buyer or surveyor will be happy with. The same approach covers sheds, workshops and home gyms.
Written quote within 24 hours
4.8 on Google across 26 reviews. Every word verbatim.
Carried out a huge amount of work, all to an exceptional standard. Really pleased.
Extremely professional and easy to work with. Helped us make good, informed decisions and the work was spot on.
Friendly and helpful, and installed parts superior to those originally quoted. Great job.
Straight answers
With buried steel-wired armoured (SWA) cable from your fuse board to the building, the right protection at both ends, and usually a small consumer unit in the outbuilding, all tested and certified. It is a proper fixed installation, not an extension lead, so it is safe to leave out in the weather and rated for the load you actually need.
As a rule of thumb, around 450mm under a lawn or border, and deeper where it runs under a driveway or anywhere vehicles go, with cable warning tape laid above it so future digging gets a warning. SWA can sometimes be clipped along a wall or fence at high level instead, which saves digging. The exact depth and route are set by the survey.
For anything beyond a single light or socket, yes. A small sub-board in the outbuilding gives you local RCD protection, separate switching so you can isolate the building without killing the house, and room to add lighting, heating and sockets safely. A single outdoor socket or light can be wired more simply.
No. A trailing extension lead is a trip hazard, it is not rated to be left out in the weather, and it cannot safely carry the load of a heated office, tools or a fridge over time. A building you use regularly needs a proper buried, protected and certified circuit. An outdoor lead is fine for a quick one-off, like a strimmer on a dry afternoon.
It depends, which is why the work starts with a look at your existing setup. Adding an outbuilding load draws on your main service fuse and your consumer unit. If your board has a spare way and is in good condition, the new circuit drops in. If it is old or full it may need attention first, the same check that applies before an EV charger. You are told what your property actually needs before any price is set.
Yes. A new circuit feeding an outbuilding is notifiable under the Building Regulations, so it must be designed, installed, tested and certified to the current wiring standard, then notified. Jack tests and certifies the work to BS 7671 and issues the paperwork as part of the job, so you end up with paperwork that proves it is safe and signed off, which matters if you ever sell the house.
Tell Jack what the building is for and roughly where it sits in the garden, and he'll survey it and put a written quote in your hands within 24 hours. Buried, protected and certified.
qualified electrician · 24 hours, 7 days a week · Based in Dalgety Bay, Fife