Replacing Consumer Unit

[Geof_t]

I have completely rewired my house, and am now looking to replace the consumer unit. is it normal practice to do this live or have the MEB remove the company fuse?

 

[breezer]

you are not allowed to remove the supply company fuse, that said you should not work on it live, I am not saying or implying anything, you should contact your electricty company as they will want to test your workmanship

 

[plugwash]

while in theory you aren' supposed to break thier seals it seems that all the reports i've seen from electricians say they don't give a ****

also if you dispose of the seals they can't prove they were there to start with

 

[ban-all-sheds]

while in theory you aren' supposed to break thier seals it seems that all the reports i've seen from electricians say they don't give a ****

That's certainly a very common story. And it is also very common for electricians to break the seals and remove the fuse. But I'll bet that every one that does that was shown how to do it by someone with experience.

Geof_t - I would suggest that pulling the fuse yourself may not be the safest thing to do, but it is safer than trying to replace the CU live.

What do you do at work when you replace RCDs?

you are not allowed to remove the supply company fuse, that said you should not work on it live, I am not saying or implying anything, you should contact your electricty company as they will want to test your workmanship

And another common story is that suppliers no longer give a **** about that, either.

 

[securespark]

If electricity supply companies are interested in testing at all, it is just your tails - they turn off the main ISO and megger just to see there's no short (!!!) in the tails.

In the NW, the co's policy is "call us out to disconnect", but if speak to an engineer, the unofficial story is "break the seal, do the work, reinstate the supply then leave a completion certificate for the engineer who will reseal"

I AM NOT TRYING TO INFLUENCE ANYBODY'S DECISION AS TO WHAT TO DO IN GIVING THIS INFORMATION. THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION IS TO RING THE ESC AND EXPLAIN WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.