Replacing telephone cable in hallway

pippa80

We're about to have our hallway replastered and painted. At the moment there is a cable that runs from the master socket down the hallway to the secondary socket in the living room. We'd like to have this replaced and then hidden by the decorator. Is it an electrician we'd need to replace the cable, or a telephone engineer or similar?

Thanks!

shaun_from_Africa

How is the wiring for the extension socket connected to the master socket?
If it is hard wired, then you need a BT service engineer (Usually Openreach) to do the job as they don't allow third parties to work on their equipment. (and everything upto and including the master box belongs to BT).
That's the official line. Many people do DIY work on the BT wiring and you might well find an independent telecoms engineer willing to do what you require.


However, it may just be a plug in extension, and the wiring for this can be replaced by anyone.

Risteard

That's not correct. The seconday wiring from a master socket is an Electrician's job - it is only the cable connecting the master socket from the exchange which is the property of BT.

Seconday wiring from the master socket (although the socket belongs to BT) is not a job for BT.

TheCyclingProgrammer

A telephone engineer or even a competent handyman could do this. You can probably learn to do it yourself - its not difficult, though you might want to invest in a proper punchdown tool for a neat job terminating the wires. Just be careful not to damage the master socket in the process (officially it would need to be replaced by BT though its perfectly possible to replace it yourself).

stator

You can do it yourself or you can get a Telecoms engineer to do it. An electrician would probably do it too, but likely to be more expensive?

shaun_from_Africa

Risteard wrote: »

That's not correct. The seconday wiring from a master socket is an Electrician's job - it is only the cable connecting the master socket from the exchange which is the property of BT.

It all depends on how what sort of master box is fitted and how the extension wiring is connected to it.


If the master box is the old type without a removable front plate and the extension wiring is connected to the internal terminals, then any work on this box must be carried out by BT.
However, if the box is a newer one with a removable front plate which gives access to a consumer use terminal block, then you are correct and anyone is allowed to work on the extension wiring.

pippa80

Thanks all, we need to get an electrician in for another small job, so I'll ask whether they could do it when they come round.

macman

Since it's two wires only (less wiring than a 13A plug) then you can do this yourself or get even the most basic handyperson to do it.

Risteard

macman wrote: »

Since it's two wires only (less wiring than a 13A plug) then you can do this yourself or get even the most basic handyperson to do it.

No, there are actually three wires used typically.

But it is usual to connect the two pairs (four cores), or even all six with a three pair cable.