Electricity meter wooden mounting board ???

[thesquire]

The electricity meter, supply fuses are screwed to a wooden board, that is spaced from off the wall.

Needless to say its been like that since the house was built in 1935.

Well the board now has some woodworm in it.

Whose responsibility is the board, is it the householder or the elec company.

I presume that if it was me, I would have to get the elec company in to switch off and remove all fixing screws so I could get the old board out.

Would I need to fit a new board, or would the elec company just fix them direct to the wall ??

Is the whole installation tested ?????

[The Wanderer]

Electricity Company - but make sure you contact the local 'wires' company, who may not be the ones you pay for your electricity.

[Chris Bacon]

It's theirs. If you do anything to it, or mount things on it, they may get into a tizzy. Contact them.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

If you can find out who fitted it in 1935. ;-)

Personally i'd replace it myself if it was my problem, same size,wood and template who's to argue about replacing a bit of wood.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Colin Wilson]

The issue really is who dismantles the incoming supply to enable them to be reattached to the new wood - not the householder.

[Nigel Molesworth]

Despite what others have said, I recall that it is the responsibility of the customer to supply a suitable mounting surface.

Cut the seals, take out the fuse, replace the wood.

[Andy Dingley]

Well obviously it's now John "Part P" Prescott's. When you've replaced it, I suggest you post it to him, woodworm and all.

And ask for a receipt too. You'll need to display that on your roof so that the satellite imaging can see it. NuLabour denied in parliament today that satellite photos were to be used for property revaluing, so they must be bringing it in shortly.

[Chris Bacon]

It's still the property of whoever took over the 1935 company. The new one will still quite probably get in a tizzy about it. In my case, an unknown electrician I met in the pub. has fitted an RCD to the "board's" board. He did a good job, it fits nicely. Haven't seen him for ages, though. The seal on the meter where those big thick "wires" go in and out does not appear to have been replaced when the incoming supply "wire" was replaced, unfortunately. There's just a length of that wire they use looped through. If I knew anything about regs., I might complain.

[Dave Stanton]

In my

He gets about that Bloke, must have a fast bike !!

Dave

[The Wanderer]

Depends what you mean by suitable mounting surface. Meter boards were

*always* fitted by the jointer or linesman unless the householder or builder had provided a larger backboard for their own purposes.

Ignore this stupidity. If the board has been there since 1930s then the equipment may well be of a similar vintage. If it's an underground supply you risk disturbing the crutch where the cable cores are separated out, if its an antiquated o/h supply the insulation on the cables may have perished. A short circuit with a 400a fuse behind it will be very different to one with a 15a or 30a domestic fuse. Get it wrong and it'll be no use trying to tell the insurance company 'But this guy on uk.d-i-y[1] said it was alright to do it'....

Call the local distribution company and tell them the meter board is wormy and needs replacing. It's their responsibility. Don't be fobbed off by call centre oiks who won't really understand what you're telling them.

[1] Ah, a new variation on the guy I met in a pub! :-)

[Henry]

"Nigel Molesworth" wrote in

This is what we were told by the power company. Can't remember what the suitable surface was, maybe fire resistant chipboard.

Henry

[The Wanderer]

Ah, but what they might tell you and where the real responsibility lies are two quite different things.

What you have to remember is that your calls are being answered by call centre staff, many of whom will be agency staff and most of them really don't have much idea about who is responsible for what. Coming out to replace a meter board is a pain in the arse, so if they can convince you the customer that you should be doing it, well it all helps the bottom line of the balance sheet.

I am well aware that these days most distribution companies seem to turn a blind eye to people withdrawing the main fuse, but in the end, the cutout and meter are *their* property, and they are the people to replace them.

[thesquire]

The trouble is in doing this, is that I still cannot re mount the meters as all the screws are internal, and that would mean breaking the seal.

[The Wanderer]

It's taking a long time, but you seem to be getting there.....