"a" wrote in message
...
Hi,

What are the current building regulations relating to the fitting of
an outside tap?

Cheers, W


It's always practical to put some kind of stopcock and draincock inside
the
house where it should be warmer in the winter than outside. Putting
these
in the system will allow the tap to be completely isolated in freezing
conditions and you don't have to go outside to do it. If you are
planning
to have a long run of pipework outside the house, remember to wrap
lagging
tape or insulation tube over all the exposed parts to help prevent any
freezing if you intend to use the tap occasionally during the winter
months.

But an internal stopcock, and drainage point after it, is always best
practice.

When I plumbed in our tap recently I put in the dbl check valve and a full
bore ball valve for isolation but didnt put a drainage point in (dont know
why really). So is the best practice in this case to close the ball valve
and leave the tap open to leave room for any expansion (there are only a
couple of inches of pipe outside so I doubt much of it would be liable to
freeze anyway).

cheers

Dave.



It's not hugely important to have a drainage point on very short runs, say
directly through the wall to the tap. But in the case of any pipework that
may be exposed to the freezing weather, then it's a good idea to wrap or
cover the tap with non-absorbent material to keep some of the heat in and,
of course, the cold out.