No Main Earth Connection

Hi Guys,

Had an EICR done and it says:

"No distributor earth connection between service cable and Main earth terminal. Did not get an aqequate ZE (external earth fault loop impedance) reading when the main earth was disconnected"

Had an Engineer from UK Power Networks come and check everything, he confirmed no earth and he could not fix it. He said I need to get my electrician to install a pin or get a PME installed.

Question: Who is responsible for providing an adequate earth between service cable and Main earth terminal?

My Electrician says it is responsibility of the Energy provider to get the earth to the flat.

Thank you,

In the past it was always the consumer that was responsible for their earthing. If the distributor offered a earth terminal you can/should use it.

Sir-John said:

In the past it was always the consumer that was responsible for their earthing. If the distributor offered a earth terminal you can/should use it.

Click to expand...

Thank you
That is the whole point, there is no distributor earth.

some photos would be useful, especially of the incoming supply cable and the service head.

is the electricity meter inside your flat, or elsewhere?

how old is the building?

are you in a town?

If you want PME then it's up to the DNO to supply it, your electrician cannot do it.

firapara said:

...He said I need to get my electrician to install a pin...

Click to expand...

do you mean an earth spike into the ground?

what floor is your flat on, and who owns the ground around the building?

As Sir John implies, you can ask your electricity supplier for a PME.
(they will not actually do the work themselves, but have the responsibility to pass the request on, so I recommend a short letter, not a phone call. Include your Meterpoint number, which will be near the bottom of your bill, starting with a big "S".)

Thanks guys,

Photo attached, thick black cable is the electric supply coming into the flat


The meter is inside flat.

The building is built in 1920s

This is in London

Yes, I mean an earth spike into the ground. The land is owned by the free holder (not me)


Do I pay for the PME or the Electricity Supplier? UK Power Netwrok engineer said PME costs a couple thousand £

PME is a 5min job once they have ascertained the network is suitable, most are. You have what appears to be a TN-S Earth there, if that has been confirmed as Ze too high then PME is the way to go. Usually at no charge as its not your responsibility on the incoming side of meter.

the incoming cable looks to me like the original.

if you have any difficulty getting them to provide PME, tell them it has a pipe clamp round the armour (this is poor practice since, if very tight, it can damage it.

It might actually be clamped onto the bituminous bandage, which is not much good.

The network company is not obliged to provide PME free. But they may do.

If there is a company-provided earthing point, they are obliged to maintain it; but if not, they are not obliged to provide one free.

Thank you guys

In the picture, the earth clamp looks very new.

The cable looks very black.

Is the black on the cable;
Bare metal?
Bitumen?
PVC sleeve or similar?

Unless the clamp is on clean bare metal, you aren't going to get much of an earth.

sparkwright said:

In the picture, the earth clamp looks very new.

The cable looks very black.

Is the black on the cable;
Bare metal?
Bitumen?
PVC sleeve or similar?

Unless the clamp is on clean bare metal, you aren't going to get much of an earth.

Click to expand...

The cable is covered in bitumen, but that twisted cable sticking out is the earth from DNO. There is no aqequate ZE reading on that DNO earth.

firapara said:

The cable is covered in bitumen, but that twisted cable sticking out is the earth from DNO. There is no aqequate ZE reading on that DNO earth.

Click to expand...

Then surely there is a defect in the cable 'outer' which is the responsibility of the DNO. My son had a similar problem (reported to him by his electrician when installing a new CU) and the DNO was there within hours digging up his driveway to repair the line.

As @JohnD says the DNO does not need to supply an earth, however they do need to tell you what the earthing system is, where properties are close to each other, the earthing systems need to match, if two earthing systems are at a different voltage then you could get a shock by touching two different earthing systems, so the DNO has to tell you what earth you have, so all flats have the same earthing system.

So when I found mothers house had no earth, I lied and said next door is TN-C-S so should not my mothers be the same, and he said yes and it was made TN-C-S free of charge, in real terms I had no idea what next door had.

But if all the houses in a terrace are TT and you want TN, then the DNO should swap all houses in the terrace, hence why expensive to have it changed.

In real terms they don't do all homes together, but they should.

So it is better to ask the DNO what earthing system you have, rather than ask for TN earthing system. If they don't know they have to send some one out, and likely they will then make your flat TN. With no assess to earth there is really no option but TN.

My parents house when I was a lad did rupture a fuse when in error I touched a line onto an earth, so at around 14 years old the house must have had an earth, at 60 years old, when I looked there was no sign of the house ever having an earth other than for the phones and the party line. May be earth was through water pipes, not gas as at 14 we did not have gas, but at 60 as said no sign an earth had ever been connected. Not even a sign where the pipes had been bonded, all earth wires bonding water and gas were new, often wondered how when I was 14 we had an earth.

Here is a response from UK Power Networks

As before the year 2002 any house then built it was NOT of the responsibility of the network operator to fit an earth connection. It was down the owner of the house to arrange to have an earth fitted for them by a private electrician. Therefore, if the only option is to dig up the electricity cable to the house to relay a new cable to provide PME then this is chargeable works