New [Electricity] Meter Board. Fireproof chipboard?

[Vortex7]

Hello,

I've been contacted by my Electricity distribution company who want to upgrade my leccy meter from Analog to Digital.

Problem is my meter board is disintegrating (40+ year old chipboard) so I told them ....

Call center droid got back to me to say this is no problem to change, but I would have to supply the board and it would need to be fireproof.

questions:

1. Is this normal? I kind of assumed the board itself is the responsibility of the meter owner?

1. Where would you source suitable "fireproof" board from? What specs or BS should I be looking for? Can I get this from any Shed?

D

[Lobster]

I got the electric installed from scratch in a refurbed property about 5 years or so back, and they did expect the mounting board to be in place.

I don't recall any such stipulation and just used bog-standard 0.75" chipboard, mounted on the wall using rubber door-stoppers as spacers. Certainly no eyebrows were raised by the guy who fitted the meter. Which isn't to say that the regs haven't changed since then.

David

[js.b1]

Apparently City Electrical Factors (CEF) carry such boards.

The old boards were marine plywood, with a clear varnish, and would probably cost a lot of money these days. Plywood is a lot better than chipboard if you have anything heavy to hang off it - easement in the deeds allows this if no other space.

None are "fireproof" because that would necessitate something like calcium silicate board etc, they are probably "will not sustain a flame" or UL94B-0 etc. I guess they could be painted in "firedoor varnish" or such like.

Rather than door stoppers, which might rot or perish before a good decade or two are up, you can buy "black plastic spacers" on Ebay for about =A33 for 4. Ebay item 370242714550, they are actually black acetal as I recall, various types from 6-9-12-25mm thick and about 25mm diameter. Also useful for standing consumer unit boards off a wall to get cables behind.

[Dave Osborne]

Class "O" Fire Retardant Chipboard to BS476, Part 6

575mm x 375mm for normal domestic supplies

BS476, part 6 class "O" has been superseded by Euro FR Class "B"

e.g.

chipboard is available to class B. They might have it in a shed. Might be just as easy to buy a board from Newey/Edmundsons/CEF,WF, etc.

[The Wanderer]

The meter board would undoubtedly have been installed by the original electricity board (pre-privatisation). I'd at least try the line 'You want ME to supply a new meter board to replace one that was orginally installed by YOUR predecessor just to mount YOUR equipment. That don't sound right to me!' You may not get away with it, but in this day and age the distribution companies are trying to get the customer to pay for whatever they can con you into paying for.

[Vortex7]

I'm inclined to think a sparky who installs and changes meters every day MUST carry boards on his van.

Having said that I will try to obtain a sheet of "Class B" flooring chipboard in the mean time.

D

[Toby]

When EDF changed my cut-out from an old metal clad thing with asbestos inside, they just installed a new board at the same time - the old one was made up of what looked like floorboards!

They made a point of telling me it was their board when I asked about mounting an isolator on it too.

Toby...

[docholliday]

It's a while ago, but when my meter was replaced the fitter replaced the board at the same time - I was slightly annoyed that he insisted on taking the old one away, too, since it had a nameplate from the original supply company on that I'd have liked to have kept (should have removed it before he arrived, obviously!) I was rather more annoyed that he removed the fuse so vigorously that his hand swung up and smashed the fluorescent tube in the fitting above; he then proceeded to knacker the spare tube by trying to fit it in the dark and pushing the pins back into the cap. Mike

[Vortex7]

For the record a new meter board which I rustled up from conventional flammable 15mm plywood was installed yesterday.

As a free bonus my fuse was upgraded from 60 Amp to 100 Amp.

I can now relax in the knowledge that the meter will not fall off in the night.