DNO and pulling this main fuse.

hutch6447 · Jul 17, 2012

Hi all I have a job to do on 12th august, its changing consumer board so need main fuse dropping now after 12 years as a electrician in forces I am new to this domestic s**t I have rang them up and I ave to ring suppliers up then I ring suppliers up and get told I cant speak to them its all ****ing me right off I just want them to set a date to drop main fuse so I can complete this job to schedule. Anyone got any advice on the matter any numbers you can ring that get through to a department that will deal with it or every time you have a job that requires you to pull main fuse do you have to go through this headache?

ianphilip007 · Jul 17, 2012

follow the correct procedure Hutch, and have an isolator installed or install the isolator so the dno can pull the fuse and then reconnect to it. No matter how easy it is to pull the fuse, it can result in potentially lethal sitiuation if the fuse carrier breaks ect, its illegal to remove the seals and no matter what scheme your in it is frowned upon and bad practice. if the jobs worth doing then do it properly and follow procedure. its not about competence or beeing a man its just wrong to pull the main fuse unless you have to in case of an emergency.

hutch6447 · Jul 17, 2012

Agree with that, will do its just starts to get a bit of a headache when you just want to get job started and keep to some kind of schedule but yes Top Advice.

ianphilip007 · Jul 17, 2012

Guitarist said:
This is an area which needs sorting out. Everyone knows that seal-breaking goes on unofficially, yet technically it is breaking the law.
Personally, I get the supplier to fit an isolator when I have a CU change to do (some free, some charge), but it drives me mad that this stupidity is still going on....
A meter fitter with a few weeks training can pull the fuse, yet a qualified electrician cannot because it's dangerous! We need all suppliers to do what SSE do, and issue temp seals to allow safe working while arranging to have the fuse "officially resealed" at a later date when the sparky has finished.

agree with what your saying re some decision being made to legally allow competent tradesman to break seals for remedial work or alterations, current situation re fitting false seals when a fuse has been pulled makes no sense and does not fool anyone. currently dno safe isloation is the only legal and safe option as you may have pulled 100 fuses or even a 1000 fuses in the past and everything has been ok all it takes is one to go ---- up and the **** hits the fan and you have no comeback, no insurance. so until the rules change ill get that isolator fitted and have the dno pull the fuse.

ferg · Jul 17, 2012

I have yet to see a seal on a DNO fuse, however I have turned up at a few jobs where the fuse has been pulled already and has clearly been that way for a while.
So perhaps a public forum is not the best place to encourage this practice.

Strima · Jul 17, 2012

I have no quarms about pulling a fuse however I much prefer an isolator to be fitted. I believe it's easier and safer for future maintenance and upgrades as you can isolate the supply without running the risk of pulling a damaged carrier.

The few CU changes I have done on agency work have been a mixed batch of pull it, already out or an isolator fitted, down to the employer on each job to battle it out with the DNO, I'm just the monkey with a screwdriver to them.

If I do pull it I have to be 100% confident that there's no damage or risk of damage, especially on the older ones, I have refused on more than one occasion and probably will do so again in the future.