-
best practice
I take issue with that. Best practice is to use an electrically competent person to modify the fixed wiring installation and re-certify to BS7671.
Most of what you're suggesting belongs with a pair of spurs... yeehah!
rive_gauche-
I re-read it and you're not wrong it comes across that way. But there's nothing that can't be certified about a soldered or crimped connection behind plasterboard in that situation is there? Would certification require complete removal of the wiring and the consequent rewiring of the ring?
Perhaps "better practice" would have been a more fitting expression. I do respect the regulations exist to make the world safer but if people are going to attempt these jobs themselves it's best to share information about the risks rather than quote BS numbers no?
Airhead
If it's part of the ring, best practice since you want to plaster/fill over it would be soldered/crimped inside a choc box/insulated (i.e. remove the back box altogether). If it's cavity then you can pop a batten in and screw a piece of plasterboard to it. If it's a back box in brick then you could keep the back box and pop a bit of plasterboard in it to plaster over, you should solder crimp the earth to the back box if it's metal.
These days these alterations like this should require part p sign off so strictly speaking need to be done by an electrician. Screwed connectors can work loose due to AC pulses or having been loosely screwed in, leading to arcing which heats them up and melts them/catches fire. I've seen them melted a few times from arcing in lighting circuits, usually a fuse/transformer blows before they catch fire but it is a consideration.
All of this is best practice and can be safely ignored for the most part. Put the ends of the wires through a connector from both sides, long enough to be connected to both screws, it minimises the chance of them loosening or you forgetting to tighten a screw. When they are twisted together sometimes you think they are tight but a twist of the wire will loosen it.