I will soon be replacing an existing consumer unit with a new unit and the new unit will be located about 1 metre from its present position.
This will require the various circuit cables to be shortened but no other changes will be made to circuits.
Also the existing tails from the meter to the new unit will need to be extended (actually replaced with new) by 1 metre to reach the consumer unit position. Total length of the new tails will be about 2.5 metres.
Bearing in mind that no circuit changes are to be made, can anybody tell me if I need to provide some form of certification for the electricity board people (nPower) who will connect the new tails from the meter to the consumer unit?
Some suppliers will not allow tails >1 metre, so you would have to provide a DP switchfuse within 1 metre of the meter.
To comply with Part P of the Building Regulations you would need to make a B Regs Application to the local council.
You can expect the supplier to either demand a test certificate, or test the installation themselves at the point of connection. That's one advantage of usign a switchfuse - if it's the only thing on the customer's installation it's quite hard for it to fail.
You may need to upgrade your earthing to current requirements too.
About 18 months ago (maybe longer), I got my supply on a tempory disconnect. Someone comes out AM to pull the fuse, then someone then comes back PM to put it back (They take the fuse away, so you can't connect it back up yourself!)
When I spoke to them on the phone, I explained I was going to be installing an isolator between the meter and the CU myself, they didn't seem to have a problem with this.
When it came to it being reconnected, the bloke who came asked to see the test certificate. I said I didn't have one, as I had done the work myself, he scratched his head and said he really needs to see a certificate, I showed him what I had done, and told him there was no mention of this certificate from the person I booked the disconnect with, he seemed happy with it, and reconnected the fuse anyway - We didn't receive an electricity bill for about a year after this, maybe it was co-incidental, or maybe he had to fiddle something because he didn't have the certificate - who knows - (We are paying the bills now, after a bloody huge bill hit the doormat (they gave us a year to pay it though :-) )
This was all pre part P, so I would think this may well be different now! If I were you, I would call your elec company, and ask them if any certification is required for the reconnection.
If there is, you could just pull the fuse yourself and install an isolator to extend the tails (This also has the added benefit of letting you isolate the supply before the CU without pulling the fuse again)
Or, get a qualified electrician to do this bit if you don't want to pull the fuse yourself although he would probably just pull the fuse, or maybe work live (We had our CU replaced about 20 years ago (I was 5, so couldn't quite manage it then!) he seemed to have done it live, as the fuse seal was not broken - a braver man than me, especially as the CU back is metal!!)
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