Power to a shed or garage

The extension lead is not a solution

Let's deal with the obvious first. An extension lead out of the kitchen window works until it doesn't: flex isn't built to live outdoors, connections sit in puddles, and a mower or spade through the cable has no armour to stop it. On the Fylde Coast, wind-whipped rain and salt air finish off taped-up joints faster than almost anywhere. If the outbuilding needs power more than once a fortnight, it needs its own supply.

SWA — the right cable for the job

The standard is steel wire armoured (SWA) cable: cores wrapped in a galvanised steel jacket that shrugs off spades, strimmers and decades of damp. It can be buried in the garden at a safe depth with warning tape above it, clipped along a fence or wall, or run through the house and out — whichever suits the route. Burial is tidiest for lawns; clipped runs suit yards and party walls, which is how most of the tight backstreet plots around Blackpool get done.

A dedicated circuit with RCD protection

The supply should leave your consumer unit on its own circuit — not teed off the kitchen ring — with 30mA RCD protection covering it. That way a fault in the shed trips the shed, not the house, and anyone who puts a fork through the cable is protected. Inside a small shed, a light and a socket can be fed directly; larger outbuildings do better with their own small consumer unit, so a workshop tool tripping doesn't plunge the lights out with it.

The paperwork: this is notifiable work

A new outdoor circuit is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations. Done properly, you get an Electrical Installation Certificate and a Building Regulations compliance certificate, registered through a scheme like NAPIT — which we handle as part of the job, at no extra step for you. Skip it and the missing paperwork surfaces at the worst time: house sales and insurance claims. Our guide to Part P in plain English covers what counts as notifiable and why it matters.

What moves the price

• Distance — a garage on the gable end is a short hop; a shed 25 metres down the garden means a lot more cable, and heavier cable if the load is big.
• The digging — trenching through lawn is straightforward; lifting and reinstating a paved or concreted yard takes longer. Customers often dig the trench themselves to trim the bill.
• The load — lights and a socket for the mower charger is one job; a workshop running a table saw, compressor and heater needs a bigger cable, its own consumer unit and more design care. A hot tub or EV charger changes the sums again, so mention them now rather than after the trench is filled.
• Spare capacity at your fuse box — older consumer units sometimes lack a free way, which adds a little work at the house end.

Ballpark figures

As a guide from our outdoor work: a single outdoor socket starts around £120, and simple garden supplies sit in the low hundreds, rising with distance, digging and load — a fully kitted workshop supply with its own consumer unit costs materially more than lights and a socket. Current figures are on our outdoor electrical prices page, and we quote fixed prices after seeing the route rather than guessing over the phone.

Thinking of doing it yourself?

The honest position: burying the cable and chasing the route is fair game for a capable DIYer, but the circuit design, connections and certification legally need to be signed off — and an uncertified circuit is a liability you'll eventually pay to prove safe. The partnership that works: you dig, we design, connect, test and certify.