I am buying a new lower flat and have been told by the builders that it is
not permitted to cut a hole which is bigger that a hole to take a wire for a
light because I would be cutting the fireproof ceiling plaster and creating
a fire hazard to the people above.
Is this true?
I live in Scotland in case that makes a difference to the rules

Blair

"Blair" wrote in message
...
I am buying a new lower flat and have been told by the builders that it is
not permitted to cut a hole which is bigger that a hole to take a wire for
a
light because I would be cutting the fireproof ceiling plaster and
creating
a fire hazard to the people above.
Is this true?
I live in Scotland in case that makes a difference to the rules

Blair

Intumescent fire hoods are available to sit ontop of the downlighter in the
ceiling void. These serve to preserve the fire rating of the ceiling.

--
Ellis Greensitt, Site Admin, UK Electrcians Forum
http://supplychain.org.uk/phpBB2/index.php

I am buying a new lower flat and have been told by the builders that it is
not permitted to cut a hole which is bigger that a hole to take a wire for
a
light because I would be cutting the fireproof ceiling plaster and
creating
a fire hazard to the people above.
Is this true?

Basically yes. You might be able to do it safely with the correct parts (not
just cutting a hole and inserting fittings), but the fittings will be
unventilated, run overly hot and probably ping bulbs once a week. Besides,
halogen downlighters are totally inappropriate to general lighting, as the
illumination pattern is far from ideal. People fit them for "fashion"
reasons, but they'll look pretty dated in a couple of years anyway, like
Artex and laminate flooring.

Christian.

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 06:08:52 +0100, "Ellis Greensitt"
wrote:

"Blair" wrote in message
...
I am buying a new lower flat and have been told by the builders that it is
not permitted to cut a hole which is bigger that a hole to take a wire for
a
light because I would be cutting the fireproof ceiling plaster and
creating
a fire hazard to the people above.
Is this true?
I live in Scotland in case that makes a difference to the rules

Blair

Intumescent fire hoods are available to sit ontop of the downlighter in the
ceiling void. These serve to preserve the fire rating of the ceiling.

I got mine from TLC Direct see
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...ght/index.html

or http://tinyurl.com/cqthg

Rich.

LV DOWNLIGHTS REFELECT HEAT BACKWARDS;there have been fires where stuff
in loft has been placed on or near the back of these units with no
smoke hoods fitted.
Manufacturers of plasterboard spend a fortune on getting products fire
tested,
Some more expensive d/lights now have heat protection at rear as
standard.

On Thu, 9 Jun 2005 09:39:03 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

I am buying a new lower flat and have been told by the builders that it is
not permitted to cut a hole which is bigger that a hole to take a wire for
a
light because I would be cutting the fireproof ceiling plaster and
creating
a fire hazard to the people above.
Is this true?

Basically yes. You might be able to do it safely with the correct parts (not
just cutting a hole and inserting fittings), but the fittings will be
unventilated, run overly hot and probably ping bulbs once a week. Besides,
halogen downlighters are totally inappropriate to general lighting, as the
illumination pattern is far from ideal. People fit them for "fashion"
reasons, but they'll look pretty dated in a couple of years anyway, like
Artex and laminate flooring.

Our bulbs don't 'ping' every week.

If you are tall or have low ceilings they have a significant advantage
over pendant lights. I agree about the Artex though - horrid stuff.

Rich.

unventilated, run overly hot and probably ping bulbs once a week. Besides,
halogen downlighters are totally inappropriate to general lighting, as the
illumination pattern is far from ideal. People fit them for "fashion"
reasons, but they'll look pretty dated in a couple of years anyway, like
Artex and laminate flooring.

I'm currently flooding our flat with dichroic downlights. Rgds,

Andy

:-)