Underground Trenching & Conduit Installations

Getting a network to a shed, studio or second building

Running cabling between separate structures is a different job to running it inside one. The cable has to be rated for the environment, protected from mechanical damage and moisture, buried at a sensible depth and kept clear of other services. Done properly it lasts decades; done as a shallow direct-buried indoor cable, it fails within a few wet seasons.

Typical projects are a link from the house to a shed, workshop, studio, granny flat or pool house; a run between buildings on an acreage; and conduit installed during landscaping so cabling can be pulled later without disturbing finished ground.

Conduit, depth and doing it once

We install conduit rather than direct-burying cable wherever practical. Conduit protects the cable, allows a damaged run to be replaced without re-excavating, and lets you pull additional services later using a draw string. Oversizing the conduit and adding a second one at the same time costs very little while the trench is open and saves an entire job later.

Depth and separation from other services matter. Before excavation we identify what else may be in the ground and route around it, and we keep telecommunications separated from electrical services. Where a driveway or path has to be crossed and cannot be trenched, boring under it is often the better option.

• Conduit with a draw string, sized larger than today's requirement
• External or underground-rated cable — never indoor cable direct-buried
• Route planned around existing services, trees and structures
• Boring available where driveways or paths cannot be opened
• Reinstatement of turf or surfaces discussed and quoted upfront

Copper or fibre between buildings?

For links between separate structures we frequently recommend fibre rather than copper. Fibre carries no current, so it avoids earth potential differences and surge paths between buildings — a genuine consideration in a storm-prone climate — and it removes the 100-metre distance limit entirely.

Where the run is short and the buildings share an earthing arrangement, copper can be appropriate and is cheaper to terminate. We assess the distance, the structures and what you intend to run at the far end, then recommend accordingly rather than defaulting to one answer.