"builders" temp supply?

[ColJack]

never had to sort out a connection before so I was just wondering..
can you get a temporary supply to a building site...like a self build plot?

how would you house it? small brick wall with a cabinet built into it?

or would they supply to a sectional concrete garage?

the garage is at the back of the plot so the supply cable would pass the point where it needs to connect to the house.. ( the foundations and slab are down and walls are starting to go up.. )

 

[SparkyNinja]

I have some self made distribution cupboard/boxes that I use. They're portable and can be fixed into position.
I usually just place them onto the intake position when it's installed by the supplier. Then I can lock it up, and use the distro on it for the site when needed.

If it's a big site then I alternatively sometimes get a generator hired and get a compound temporarily erected around it.

 

[ColJack]

it's a self build plot, and it's the intake / service head that I'm refering to.
it can't go in it's final position as it is to be recessed into / onto a wall that ish't built yet..

however, the builder is currently using a small genny to run the chop saw for the timber walls.. and is doing it of an evening and at weekends..
the nights drawing in means that he will soon have to stop working at evenings as the genny isn't man enough for lights and the chopsaw..

as I said, there is a sectional concrete garage at the back of the site currently used for storage..
this would be the ideal place to put a temporary supply and a CU for flood lighting, power in the garage and a 110V tranny for site power..
there is also a caravan on site, but I'm unsure as to whether that is for sleeping in or just a site office..

 

[plugwash]

You need to speak to the DNO. I'm pretty sure they have service head/meter cabinets designed to mount on a pole and then you can fit a small IP rated CU above them to feed sockets for your site equipment.

I dunno how much they charge extra for doing a temp supply and moving to permanent location later VS installing straight to permanent location and how the economics compare to just getting a bigger generator.

 

[Lectrician]

It is typical to place a meter box with CU/sockets adjacent to a DNO meter box, fixed to a fence, post etc. This supply can then be moved into the building. The DNO will always look for a spot that facilitates this easily.

You will usually not be given an earth (certainly not a PME).

 

[ericmark]

You need a WMDU which stands for Weatherproof Main Distribution Unit. Where I worked we bought them ready built but no reason why you should not self build.

The problem with any site where there is not a competent person on site is that the supplier may want a type tested device. Since we did have a competent person on site this was not a problem.

A consumer unit is a type tested distribution unit. As a result likely you will need a weather proof box with a consumer unit and space for the supply authority's meter and head.

Because as an electrician there are slightly different rules to being an ordinary person I would suggest you ask supply authority in case they treat you different to us.

 

[ColJack]

it's not my self build it's PikeyDIY's that I'm thinking of ( and trying to educate myself in the process )..
would they not put the temp supply into the concrete garage then? do they insist on outside boxes nowadays to facilitate meter reading or something?

 

[securespark]

Just tag onto the nearest lamp standard...

 

[ericmark]

Just tag onto the nearest lamp standard...

You do make a good point. Every lamp standard does have a board with a fused head although not normally a meter so it is likely that some item of street furniture could be adapted for the job.

What I have found is there is a big difference between water proof and weather proof and to be weather proof normally I would get a wooden shelter built with slopping roof and loads of holes in bottom if there was any bottom at all. So any water that gets in will also quickly get out.

 

[ColJack]

but my idea of a small double brick wall with a standard flush mount meter box set into it would be the same as a meter box in a house wall.. just as water proof surely? with a cap stone on top of the wall at least..

 

[RF Lighting]

I do work at a farm which has that setup. A small brick built pillar with a slab on top, and a meterbox in the front and back.

1st meterbox is for the DNO head and meter, and the 2nd meterbox is for the customers switchfuse, but I'm sure this could house your temporary fusebox and a couple of sockets et al.

 

[RF Lighting]

Just a thought, you could put in a feeder pillar, and keep everything in one cabinet, and it saves having to build a housing for the meterboxes then.

These are quite common in carparks on retail sites for the street lighting. The DNO seem happy to put a supply into them, and there is plenty of room for your fuse board too.

http://www.feeder-pillars.co.uk/Double_&_Single_Door.html

 

[Sureitsoff?]

When I self built, the temp supply was housed in a wooden box fixed to a fence post on the boundary big enough to house the service head ,the meter, a temp CU and 4 sockets. If the temp position is further away than the final position it is then easyfor the DNO to swing the incoming cable away from the temp to the new as there is enough cable to allow it.

At one point the new permanent CU was fed from the temp one just to save having to run extension cables into the house.

When the DNO came to wire in the permanent CU they disconnected the temp supply and moved the cable to the new position easily because of the extra cable available but when they managed to connect the supply to the head and meter, using the same ones from the temp position, they managed to reverse the connections so the meter ran backwards, but they would nt leave it like that, rotten b*****s !!!!

 

[streetlighter]

I like the feeder pillar idea a medium sized one would be ideal. They normal have triangle key locks and some have a hasp and staple fitted for a padlock.
Ive seen a few with yale type locks too.