My electrician wants a visit from the fuse fairy!

[Vicario]

My DNO are coming to upgrade my fuse from 60A to 100A. My spark is coming to upgrade the tails and earthing and I just happened to ask how he could switch off the power to do the tails. He said that he would have to pull the main fuse and therefore cut the seals on the fuse and the meter. He assures me that the DNO and me service providers (both EDF) will be OK about this if they know that it's to upgrade my tails and earthing prior to their visit. He doesn't need to ask them first, he says. Does that all sound right?
The quote is for £180 (he needs to upgrade the gas/water bonding too).
Sounds fair to me.

 

[ElectricDunc]

Not a bad price IMO. The electricity board don't really like you cutting their seals. Best thing is to get him to come on the same day as the fuse changers and get them to fit an isolator while they're upgrading the fuse.

 

[bongos]

Alot of them are fine about cut seals when they see shiny new tales and bonding. It's when the installation appears old and outdated and there are cut seals that they are more likely to be suspicious of them being cut.

 

[RF Lighting]

Having spoken with various people at YEDL, they don't have a problem with an electrical contractor cutting seals for this sort of work.
It is not officially allowed, but they have said they would prefer a cut seal rather than an electrician injuring himself trying to do the job live.

In years gone by, at the first company I worked at, my boss had a certificate from the the YEB giving him permission to cut seals on cut outs and the bottom seal on meters.

They supplied him with temporary plastic seals for when he had done to reseal everything.

I thing the problem comes as it seems to vary between the DNOs.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

1. Like it or not it is illegal.
   
2. It's impossible to find any examples of anyone ever being prosecuted for it.
   
3. The DNOs have no interest in putting systems in place to be able to realistically provide a seal-cutting service.
   
4. As long as they officially say "don't do it" their *rses are covered, and in reality they know that people are going to be very careful, as the penalty for screwing things up isn't one where you have the right of appeal.

 

[ColJack]

I think that there should be a qualification you could do to get DNO approval where you are then issued a unique number.
you'd buy a seal crimping tool with the number embossed on it and be able to buy replacement seals...

 

[17thman]

4)

 

[Click-Sure]

In our dreams ColJack...

Where tails have been of the right size I have been known to work live, but in 99% of cases I take the fuse, and upgrade tails (no interest in harmonising them BTW) No come back yet, even where the customer has invited the supplier back to remove economy 7 that was costing them money.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think that there should be a qualification you could do to get DNO approval where you are then issued a unique number.
you'd buy a seal crimping tool with the number embossed on it and be able to buy replacement seals...

The problem is that as soon as they do that they take on an H&S responsibility. If anything went wrong they'd at the very least be in a mess of legal stuff trying to show that they had checked your competence and assessed your skills, that they had checked that you had and knew how to use the appropriate tools and PPE, that they had procedures in place to check you were using the PPE etc etc etc.

Whereas if they can point to a public domain document which has instructed you not to cut the seals....

 

[Click-Sure]

Very true BAS.