Meter installer won't work on my supply

[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