Light switch earthing

Hi, in response to your query, if the face plate is metal, there should be an earth connection on it, therefore you should earth it to the back box with the earth from the lighting cable. If the face plate is plastic there won’t be an earth connection for it, so if there is a metal back box, then common practice is to put the earth cable into the metal back box…if the back box is plastic, then put the earth into a connector. If the lighting cable has no earth I.e wired pre 1966 then use plastic faceplates only.

Metal switches must be earthed on the switch..plastic are ok to fit in a waygo and must be connected all together to keep the earthing arrangement continuous. Pre 1966 their wasn’t any earth wire in lighting circuits and was earthed sometimes by the metal conduit from switch box back to the metal fuse board.. all changed when bakerlite and plastic fuseboards came in play! So a lot of households still have no earthing in their lighting circuits.. if you have no earthing that’s fine just opt for plastic switches and lights

If you have a metal face plate or back box they will need to be earthed, if there just pvc they don’t need earthed but it’s good there are connector blocked as it means in future if face places are changed to metal there is an earth there for them to be earthed

With reference to your question, the earth cable must be securely connected to the backbox terminal where a plastic switch is installed. When a metal switch is installed, the earth cable must be connected directly to the switch earth terminal. In my experience I have seen many metal switches not earthed correctly. Please be aware that if the earth cable is connected at the switch, this does not guarantee a connection to earth! This is mainly due do poor connections at light fittings and back to the consumer unit, so it's always best to contact a qualified electrician to meter test this for peace of mind.