Meter installer won't work on my supply

[aturneruk]

Hi all -- full disclosure I am a 'DIY-er' but wanted to post here for greater visibility seeing as I certainly won't be doing this work myself...

I'm in the early stages of getting my house rewired (estimates) and during one initial visit, the electrician pointed out that I would need a way to isolate my incoming supply as there is currently no way to isolate the meter tails. They suggested booking a smart meter appointment and the meter installer to fit a 2-pole isolator at the same time. My house has 2 consumer units which are both fed from the henley blocks at the bottom of the picture.

Meter installer visited, but stopped work due to an "asbestos back board" before starting anything. Admittedly I'm not an expert but it looks very wooden to me..! Either way, better safe than sorry and so they stopped work and reported it to the DNO (NGED/ex. WPD). However, fast forward nearly 3 weeks and NGED don't have anything on their records for my property and yet my supplier are insisting that the report has been sent to them. So far I've been working on the basis that my relationship is with my supplier and not the DNO, so haven't directly asked them to do anything (yet). I'm also a bit reticent to do that in case they charge, which I'm not opposed to, but at the same time would like to avoid it if possible.

Feels like I'm stuck in limbo with no way to get this moving for the incoming supply to be in a state where an electrician can work on it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can actually do?

 

[oscar21]

Isn't the possible asbestos inside the cut out fuse as opposed to the actual meter back board. Plenty of old fuse carriers had asbestos in them

 

[mainline]

Hi all -- full disclosure I am a 'DIY-er' but wanted to post here for greater visibility seeing as I certainly won't be doing this work myself...

I'm in the early stages of getting my house rewired (estimates) and during one initial visit, the electrician pointed out that I would need a way to isolate my incoming supply as there is currently no way to isolate the meter tails. They suggested booking a smart meter appointment and the meter installer to fit a 2-pole isolator at the same time. My house has 2 consumer units which are both fed from the henley blocks at the bottom of the picture.

View attachment 109905

Meter installer visited, but stopped work due to an "asbestos back board" before starting anything. Admittedly I'm not an expert but it looks very wooden to me..! Either way, better safe than sorry and so they stopped work and reported it to the DNO (NGED/ex. WPD). However, fast forward nearly 3 weeks and NGED don't have anything on their records for my property and yet my supplier are insisting that the report has been sent to them. So far I've been working on the basis that my relationship is with my supplier and not the DNO, so haven't directly asked them to do anything (yet). I'm also a bit reticent to do that in case they charge, which I'm not opposed to, but at the same time would like to avoid it if possible.

Feels like I'm stuck in limbo with no way to get this moving for the incoming supply to be in a state where an electrician can work on it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can actually do?

In some properties, meter backboards were fitted which were made out of asbestos.

It's the DNOs responsibility, The DNO should contact you to schedule in the necessary work based on its urgency.

This process of replacing your meter board will depend on the equipment it holds. If your main electricity fuse is located on your board, we can take care of the change for you. In some cases we may need a little help from your electricity supplier to remove your electricity meter and your electrician to remove your fuse box, we'll then install the new board. It's important to note if your board contains asbestos, this will take longer to complete as we will need a specialist team to handle it safely.


If the board you need to replace doesn’t hold your electricity supply on it, then your electricity supplier will be responsible for the replacement.

 

[aturneruk]

Isn't the possible asbestos inside the cut out fuse as opposed to the actual meter back board. Plenty of old fuse carriers had asbestos in them

I considered this but thought it unlikely as the current meter was installed in 2016 (there is a sticker next to the meter), which I assume would have required pulling the main fuse & resealing. I would have hoped that any asbestos inside the cut-out was reported and rectified at that point (or the meter installer should have stopped work as I've experienced this time).

The house is 1930s which I thought would have reduced the likelihood of it containing asbestos too (assuming the cut-out is original).

Without NGED coming out to pull the service fuse there is no way to know for sure though!

In some properties, meter backboards were fitted which were made out of asbestos.

It's the DNOs responsibility, The DNO should contact you to schedule in the necessary work based on its urgency.

How do I get the DNO to come out if they haven't had a report? Do I have to keep pestering my supplier?

 

[snowhead]

How do I get the DNO to come out if they haven't had a report? Do I have to keep pestering my supplier?

Yes, your supplier has witnessed the asbestos and made the report the DNO.
If there is any charge due to a false alarm , they'll get the bill from the DNO.

Contact your supplier and ask for the reference number they were given by the DNO when the report was made.

 

[davesparks]

That looks very much like a wooden backboard.

However it also looks like you have a cast iron cutout which is something the meter installer should have reported to the DNO.
DNO's should replace the cast iron cutout for an insulated one as a matter of course and not charge you for it.

 

[BenCos18]

Yep that backboard looks wooden to me also

 

[James]

It is likely that there is asbestos in the cut out (fuse holder)
but the rest looks like wood to any sane person.

maybe meter fitter was on a promise with a young lady and didn’t want to do any more work for the day?

 

[davesparks]

The house is 1930s which I thought would have reduced the likelihood of it containing asbestos too (assuming the cut-out is original).

Asbestos was used from the time of the Roman empire up until its final ban in the UK in 1999.

 

[grumpyjohn01]

Hi all -- full disclosure I am a 'DIY-er' but wanted to post here for greater visibility seeing as I certainly won't be doing this work myself...

I'm in the early stages of getting my house rewired (estimates) and during one initial visit, the electrician pointed out that I would need a way to isolate my incoming supply as there is currently no way to isolate the meter tails. They suggested booking a smart meter appointment and the meter installer to fit a 2-pole isolator at the same time. My house has 2 consumer units which are both fed from the henley blocks at the bottom of the picture.

View attachment 109905

Meter installer visited, but stopped work due to an "asbestos back board" before starting anything. Admittedly I'm not an expert but it looks very wooden to me..! Either way, better safe than sorry and so they stopped work and reported it to the DNO (NGED/ex. WPD). However, fast forward nearly 3 weeks and NGED don't have anything on their records for my property and yet my supplier are insisting that the report has been sent to them. So far I've been working on the basis that my relationship is with my supplier and not the DNO, so haven't directly asked them to do anything (yet). I'm also a bit reticent to do that in case they charge, which I'm not opposed to, but at the same time would like to avoid it if possible.

Feels like I'm stuck in limbo with no way to get this moving for the incoming supply to be in a state where an electrician can work on it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can actually do?

Don't worry about any of that , leave it as it is and connect your new installation to the Henleys...easy

 

[timhoward]

Don't worry about any of that , leave it as it is and connect your new installation to the Henleys...easy

The OP is a DIY'er and hopefully won't be connecting anything.
My view is that if the electrician wants an isolator then that's his call, and we shouldn't dismiss or belittle doing things safely.

 

[grumpyjohn01]

The OP is a DIY'er and hopefully won't be connecting anything.
My view is that if the electrician wants an isolator then that's his call, and we shouldn't dismiss or belittle doing things safely.

Yes of course, I did read the post so I know the electrician will do the work and I'm not belittling anything, just pointing out the easy solution to the 'limbo' situation. We've all connected a proven isolated CU to live terminals before, there is not much risk.

 

[pirate]

the meter fitter might have been on a promise with a young lady...
we have to be mindful that the meter fitter's gender was not made clear
making assumptions is therefore unsafe
he/she (or any other "gender") might have been on a promise with a person of the same gender...
but I really don't give a flying foxtrot!
none of this has anything to do with asbestos, sorry!

 

[aturneruk]

---

Thank you all for your comments and advice. I'm glad that my eyes can still tell wood from asbestos!

I wouldn't want to put an electrician in the situation where they would have to work on a live supply, and to me it is a reasonable request to have some means of isolating the tails to install a consumer unit. For my own piece of mind too, I would like a user-accessible way to isolate the supply before the consumer unit.

I've initiated the supplier's complaints process, so here's hoping that might get things moving...

 

[7029 dave]

Metal clad cutouts replacement are not catA think its catB in DNO's faults code, so basically its not classed an emergency.
Lead time once reported is approx 10weeks for catB
Just looked its actually catC even lower down the list

 

[7029 dave]

Obviously a damaged cutout would be catA and that would be quick response

 

[oscar21]

Just to jump on this thread, the job I was on yesterday had a dodgy old steel cutout with a hole in the top sealed with insulation tape and the whole lot painted yellow. However the brand new smart meter and isolator were right in the way of the new consumer unit so needed moving, the seal fairy got to work and then they miraculously moved to their new positions, not sure how, I only went out to get a sandwich.

Anyway, what would you do?

 

[mainline]

Just to jump on this thread, the job I was on yesterday had a dodgy old steel cutout with a hole in the top sealed with insulation tape and the whole lot painted yellow. However the brand new smart meter and isolator were right in the way of the new consumer unit so needed moving, the seal fairy got to work and then they miraculously moved to their new positions, not sure how, I only went out to get a sandwich.

Anyway, what would you do?

I would call the relevant authority, of course.

 

[aturneruk]

Thought I'd provide an update on this one as all your expertise and thoughts on my situation were very helpful and confirmed that I was doing the right thing!

Anyway, to cut a long story short I gave up trying to go through the "correct" route and explained the situation directly to NGED using the contact form in their website. The local depot rang and a couple of gents came out to survey back in September and quickly came to the conclusion that the cutout did need replacing.

Just this morning they have visited to do now the work and so now I have a lovely shiny new plastic one! The final twist in the tale was they confirmed that the old did have asbestos in it, so that meter fitter was right all along!

Thanks to you all for your help and expertise.

 

[BenCos18]

Just this morning they have visited to do now the work and so now I have a lovely shiny new plastic one! The final twist in the tale was they confirmed that the old did have asbestos in it, so that meter fitter was right all along!

Nice to see you got it sorted