Updated 30 July 2026
Outdoor garden electrics RAMS template
Twenty steps from locating buried services to testing and reinstating the garden.
Method statement: outdoor garden electrical sequence20 steps
- Record the garden areas, buildings, equipment and circuits included in the job, plus every item excluded from it.
- Confirm who owns the land, who controls the work area and whether occupants, children, pets, gardeners or other contractors may enter it.
- Obtain the electrical design, site plan, service drawings, equipment instructions and any information held by utility owners before setting the route.
- Walk the full route and mark proposed accessories, equipment, joints, penetrations, cable entries and excavation limits on the site plan.
- Check the route for overhead lines, ponds, drains, irrigation, gas and water pipes, old lighting supplies, outbuildings and changes in ground level.
- Locate buried services with the plans and suitable locating equipment used by a competent person. Mark the results on the ground and the plan.
- Use trial holes and safe hand-digging methods to confirm service positions. Stop if the plan, locator result and exposed route do not agree.
- Record whether the work installs a new circuit, replaces a consumer unit or alters an existing circuit, and agree who handles any required notification.
- Plan the isolation point, lock-off method, retained supplies and test sequence before opening an enclosure or cutting a cable.
- Set barriers around the excavation and electrical work. Keep the public away from tools, open joints, temporary supplies and stored materials.
- Check the forecast and ground condition before starting. Stop exposed electrical work, access equipment and excavation when conditions defeat the planned controls.
- Isolate the circuit, lock it off, retain the key, prove the tester, prove dead at the work point and prove the tester again.
- Identify and protect every nearby circuit that remains live. Prevent isolated equipment becoming charged from another source.
- Excavate only inside the confirmed route and control spoil so it cannot collapse into the opening, block access or hide service markings.
- Install ducts, supports, cables, enclosures, accessories and equipment to the approved design and manufacturer instructions for the location.
- Seal building and enclosure entries, support cables and protect completed work from water, impact, gardening tools and later ground disturbance.
- Complete visual inspection and dead tests before energising. Work on or near a live conductor only when it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for it to be dead, it is reasonable in all the circumstances to work live, and suitable precautions, including protective equipment where necessary, prevent injury.
- Backfill and reinstate only after the route, depth, protection and test results have been checked and recorded against the design.
- Remove temporary supplies, tools, spoil and barriers when the installation and ground are safe for normal use.
- Hand over the electrical certificate, circuit and route information, equipment instructions, notification record where required, defects and work left incomplete.
Paste into your own document and edit every line.
What does a reviewer check before garden electrical work?
| Question | What the provision says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| QuestionDoes Part P cover a garden supply? | What the provision saysYes, if its electricity comes from or is shared with a dwelling. Part P expressly includes associated gardens or land. | WhereBuilding Regulations 2010, Sch 1 Part P |
| QuestionIs all garden electrical work notifiable in England? | What the provision saysNo. Reg 12(6A) names new circuits, consumer-unit replacements and alterations in a special location. Classify the work, not the setting. | WhereBuilding Regulations 2010, reg 12(6A) |
| QuestionWhat must happen before ground is disturbed? | What the provision saysSo far as reasonably practicable, work must not proceed where an underground service may create risk until suitable and sufficient preventative steps are taken. | WhereCDM 2015, reg 25(4) |
| QuestionWhat duty covers outdoor conditions? | What the provision saysSo far as reasonably practicable, systems must be constructed and maintained to prevent danger. Protective equipment must be suitable, maintained in that condition and properly used. | WhereEAWR 1989, reg 4 |
HSE HSG47 covers planning, locating services and safe excavation. Its cable guidance calls for plans, a locator and trial holes. Follow reg 12 isolation and reg 13 re-energisation controls. Under EAWR reg 14, work on or near a live conductor is permitted only where it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for it to be dead, it is reasonable in all the circumstances to work live, and suitable precautions, including protective equipment where necessary, prevent injury. HSE reports about three worker electrocutions each year during building refurbishment.
How should the dig route be handed over?
Record the route before backfilling. Give the client the circuit, route, test and equipment information.
What stays with the electrical design?
The approved design sets cable type, depth, protection, earthing, protective devices, enclosure ratings and test values. The download is a general electrician RAMS.