electric cable and water pipes?

rabialiones

hi peeps, just need some advice on whether its ok to run electric cable (for new shower installation) alongside the hot/cold water pipes , boiler etc down to the cellar fuse box.
the hot/cold water pipes some parts are plastic and some parts copper., which already run through house - floorboards etc. 
or would it be better to make a separate run either inside or outside of house.
any advice appreciated as to which is safest or if there is any risks . 
I thought it would be easier to run along existing pipework
thanks

grumbler

IMO, it's OK, but I'd try to avoid touching if possible.

Mickey666

Firstly, electrical work in a shower room will be notifiable work and should be signed off by a qualified electrician or building control.  Therefore the electrician doing the work should know whether routing the wires close to the water pipes would be compliant with the regulations.
Having said that, I would guess that the main issue would be thermal.  Ambient temperature affects the cable rating, ie how much current the cable can safely carry and the ambient temperature close to a hot water pipe will obviously be much higher than normal and so will need to be taken into account when deciding on the size of cable (conductor mm2) that should be used.
A qualified electrician will be able to determine all this.
A lot of electrical work is actually more like building work - drilling holes, routing cables etc, and this can be easy DIY work to save money.  I’ve done lots of this sort of thing during my house renovation BUT I also have a ‘tame’ electrician who I always use to do any tricky stuff such as replacing a consumer unit and signing things off.  So, in this case, I would call the electrician, ask his advice, then DIY the cable installation, leaving him to do all the connections, testing and certification.  It saves him time, me money, while ensuring everything is safe and compliant.

FreeBear

25mm conduit running vertically or horizontally in a prescribed "safe zone". If there are hot & cold pipes in this area, aim for a minimum of 50mm separation and go on the cold water side - This will reduce the ambient temperature next to the cabling.