Damaged a meter neutral feed cable to CU

[sparkwright]

It is usual to fit the consumer unit as near as possible to the meter, to keep the tails as short as possible. I realise there is a window in the way, but cannot see an obvious reason why the consumer unit is not nearer the meter.

I see in another post you were considering replacing the consumer unit. Not essential, but may be worth considering if the job turns into a major task. If you use the cavity or use SWA to replace the tails your electrician may end up loosening it off the wall or taking it to bits to gain access.

He may even want to move the position of the consumer unit, though probably not.

What is above the toilet, a room, loft space or flat roof?

 

[westie101]

It is usual to fit the consumer unit as near as possible to the meter, to keep the tails as short as possible

Yes usual max length 2m, 3m with permission from the DNO

Unfortunately quite often it was/is the case that between the design, planning and construction phases details like the planned location of a CU get missed so electricians put them where is easiest,

As an example the house I live in should have had a viewing cabinet with the CU above the front door, the site foreman didn't pass this info on and an old plan was used resulting in an indoor meter position under the stairs, This led to some problems as we should not have installed a supply (viewing cabinets being "mandatory" under the T&C's, but it would have delayed me moving in).

(made for easier cable runs when I installed a shower (this was under the 15th edition before you start worrying)

 

[bobdabuilda]

There is an airing cupboard with HW tank and a landing above.

Is there any way in which I could get the house insurance to sort this out with the original builders?

 

[xr4x4]

Truly shocking...

Are all the houses in this build done the same way?

 

[bobdabuilda]

It looks like all the so called 'executive houses', like ours, have the meter box in the same position, so Lord knows just how many are like it on the estate. Really worrying eh? The builders are BRYANT and if possible I intend to publically shame them into doing something about this.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[bobdabuilda]

It is not a garage conversion, this is the front of the house. We have a separate double garage 3.5 feet to the right of the main house.

All the neighbours houses have the meter boxes in the same place.

See the box here from outside

Untitled

• bobdabuilda
• 13 Mar 2011
• 1

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[bobdabuilda]

See above for outside pic of meter position, yep the cu's are in the same position.

 

[bobdabuilda]

Yep the cu's are in the same position.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[sparkwright]

As mentioned, that is apalling practice, wouldn't be so bad if the metal capping or whatever that is covered the length of the cables. Even so, those cables are not in a safe zone, no one using a drill or anything would know they are there.

Out of interest, how do the tails enter the meter box? The correct way is through the bottom.

I imagine contacting the original builders could seriously delay your toilet renovations.

 

[bobdabuilda]

The tails come in through the bottom as you state. The delay in my toilet renovations is what I am worried about as this could drag on for ages provided that they respond!
Those wires have almost got me twice as I had resited the toilet roll holder to the site you can see on the pics and the previous house owner had it just to the left of the wires where the plasterboard has been removed. In both cases missing the tails by mm.

 

[sparkwright]

Then you will realise how important it is to correct this wiring while you have the chance.

You have a nice house, so wiring on the outside won't look very good.
You could have trunking in the toilet round the edges of the walls, won't look very good.
Does the brick cavity extend to the consumer unit position? Do you have cavity wall insulation? You can cut large holes in the inside blockwork to get new cables in. It's usually best to tape all three together before running them.

 

[bobdabuilda]

Yes I don't fancy the cables being visible externally or with trunking internally. The meter box is recessed into the wall so the back of the box must be in contact (or nearly in contact) with the thermal block wall that you can see internally. There is no cavity wall insulation (another query that I sent to Bryant recently only to be told they have no records and can't comment!)

I was thinking that perhaps the best route would be to chase a channel in the thermal block and have SWA tails coming in and covering with steel trunking or pipe, more or less in the same position as the existing install?