Do I take that to be an answer to my question about 'legal action for pulling a DNO fuse'? If so, I'll be very surprised if anyone has an answer other than "no".
Kind Regards, John
Is this a C1?
- Thread starter LeeJC
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Kind Regards, John
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When I clicked 'post reply' this was the preceding post
So to clarify I have known of prosecutions where 'other activities' have taken place. No I've not known of any where no evidence exists of anything other than a rewire.
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I think they tend to/tended to issue the "smacky bottom" letter rather than actual true legal redress in such cases
I'm not sure how far back in history one has to go to find examples of that, but I have to say that I haven't heard of even that happening in recent decades - and the cutout seals are broken in a significant proportion of the properties I see (in variably explained by "that's how it was when I moved in"!)..
Kind Regards, John
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LOL. Many years ago I rewired a house of an elderly lady, a friend of my Mum. I noticed meter seal missing and asked her to mention it to the Electric Board when they attended to make the final connection. Afterwards I asked her if she mentioned it when they attended, they just did their connection and resealed it and no comment was made either by them or by her. A week or so later I received such a we will rip your arms and legs off if you ever do it again letter. I wrote a long letter back to inform them I spotted it part way thru the works and could only assume a prior contractor a year or two earlier might have removed such seal. I was naive not to realise that I personally should have reported it as soon as I had noticed it rather than leaving it to the lady to mention it. Ever since I have always reported such things and been told "Ok we we reseal it once your work is complete!" They have always resealed and never mentioned it to the houseowner as to how it might have come about .
You seem to imply that electricians (hence presumably 'everyone') are under some obligation to report broken seals but, if that is the case, 'where does it come from'?
Kind Regards, John
Folklore.
OK fitting a blank from another make may not comply with type testing, and some clip in stuff can be removed without a tool, so does not comply, but it will do until you can get some proper stuff. As to swapping the consumer unit that's another job.
If the blank was glued in place it could not be removed without tools (or without destroying either the blank or the consumer unit) Would that then comply? I think it should but I'm not sure.
If the blank was glued in place it could not be removed without tools (or without destroying either the blank or the consumer unit) Would that then comply? I think it should but I'm not sure.
Well John, I would think that if were about to work on something/near it/associated to it and you do not report it prior or whilst working on it then an assumption might be made you did the bad deed. I know there`s always been some who will just remove the seal and connect your new meter tails to the meter, there`s bee some who will bypass the meter. The honest amongst us who do not but then notice that, for some reason, seals are missing would likely report it whilst we are working there in order to deflect any chance of blame. So I suppose that "obligation" actually comes from oneself. A C Y A excersize in reality
I mean I would never pretend I do not know of an easy way to put a linkwire in to some meters in the past and for them not to be readily detectable on cursory inspection and that link would slow the meters down somewhat. I`ve never done that either but where I`ve seen evidence I have reported it, first to the customer then to the supplier
That sounds more like it, since, as I implied, I found it very hard to believe that any externally-imposed obligation could exist. It would really have to be 'in law'', since there is no contractual agreement between electricians and the DNO which could impose 'obligations'.
However, despite your personal views and practices, I still somewhat doubt that many electricians would bother to 'report' missing/broken seals. Indeed, even if it were 'assumed' that 'the electrician had done the bad deed', the deed in itself is probably not 'bad enough' for anyone to get very excited about - since it would be a bit daft to extrapolate from that assumption to a further (exceedingly improbable) 'assumption that the electrician did so in order to 'steal electricity' (in someone else's house)!
Kind Regards, John
Despite the phrase being thrown about a lot, I don't think that "without the use of a tool" appears very often (if at all?) in the regs, and there certainly in no definition of 'what tool', how violently the tool is used or how much damage is done. Let's face it, with appropriate use of appropriate tools, one could expose live conductors which were contained in any enclosure.
I therefore think one is probably down to common sense which, as you say, would seem to say that a 'well glued on' blanking [plate would be acceptable.
Kind Regards, John
manufacturers supply a variety of blanks , very few are of a sensible type
then there are the views of the CPS’s , their inspectors and the internet.
it’s just a load of incoherent garbage
Largely true - but, as I recently wrote, at least some of us have a modcuim of common sense to fall back on.
I’ve got it in spades thankfully, but this puts me at odds with my CPS and the compilers of the regs
You have my sympathies. The regs are certainly far from perfect, and definitely not always consistent with common sense, ,and the CPSs impose them on their members.
However, this is a DIY forum, not a 'CPC members' one, so many of us here have more opportunity to exercise our common sense.
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