-
that's very helpful, thanks. I have read up on RCD-protected sockets for gaarge outdoor use, and you post seems to echo what i've read.
reading between the lines, you seem to be suggesting working with the existing garage supply. my temporary fix would be to run everything off the one existing socket. is it feasible to DIY-add more (and lights) without incurring too much mither on my end - in terms of difficulty, safety and admin?
from memory, the consumer unit was inspected in '05.
garage power seems to be a spur off the kitchen socket ring.
fizzy.bleach-
If the garage power is already a spur then you are not supposed to take another spur off of that spur.
A lot depends on budget and the use case for the garage. If you are planning on a decent well used workshop type garage and you have the money to set one up then you are probably going to get a professional electrician to do it for you.
If like most people you are not going to get enough time to spend in the garage on your household projects or fill your garage with light industrial tools like lathes etc. then you could stick with the current setup and add an extension from the house which is a simple 13 amp plug socket with standard extension cord, as long as it's not fixed wiring it doesn't come under the regulations.
Airhead
It's not a bad approach but a lot of electricians will not want to be drawn into specifying a job for free. You can always ask for a price and what's involved, it won't help you to avoid the fact that it needs signing off but at least you'll get an idea of cost.
I've not done any but my understanding is that most modern garage installations have an armoured cable which can be buried or surface mounted without further mechanical protection. Clearly you need one with a high capacity (read expensive). You need to protect that cable from an overload with a breaker, perhaps they would split the incoming supply after the fuse and put a large single breaker on it. Then you put a consumer unit in the garage which has RCD protection. RCD protection is a requirement for any sockets near a door or window that could be used to supply power outside (driveway/garden etc.) Stands to reason a garage is going to have RCD protection on the sockets. You might have a loop if you want 32amp capacity or just a selection of sockets on a star or radial layout. You won't really need 32amp in most cases. Lighting on a 6amp circuit.
So basically a lot of money and effort to achieve what you already have which is power in the garage. You can get RCD protection on the breaker in the house or just use an RCD plug socket with anything you are using in the garden. If you have a lot of powerful tools in the garage and find you are tripping the breaker, then it might be worth upgrading but otherwise you could spend the money elsewhere.
If you get an EICR they will likely flag things which would need to be done to meet current regulations but the regs are not applied retrospectively so until you start some serious work you don't need to address them.