no earth

[Farmelectrics]

third party story so dont shoot the mesenger just wanted to share this and see if any of are fellow sparks have come across this my mate goes to a house to investigate why there is no earth into property this has come to light as the gas board wont install new boiler as there is no earth how right they were aswell. the supply is a tnc-s the incoming cable has been put into a hennely block (jb) as the meter has been re moved to outside by scottish power so the meter reader can read without access into property. so meter now outside with a new 2 core 16mm ran to outside length roughly 10metres (not right) scottish power come out today and say there is no brass plate in hennly block (jb) which provides the earth. in effect this property has been in a potenially dangerous condition. scottish power are to put this right sorry for long winded story your thoughts please

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Have seen several PME heads with the link missing between the N and earth blocks. One of these was on a property that had been refurbished and extented,including electrics. No cert was issued surprise surprise.

 

[Farmelectrics]

It's been like that since 2002. Do you think thr property owners could sue Scottish power

 

[Farmelectrics]

What's the max length of the meter cables allowed its been diverted outside and the length is about 10 metersmeters

 

[driverman]

Bit tired , long day..........are you saying that just the meter itself has been moved to an outside position? I'm assuming into an OMB. Normally the main service cable and meter go hand in hand into OMB. Then an electrician would connect from new meter position to existing consumer position.

 

[Farmelectrics]

Yes that's correct Scottish power put the meter outside but left the property with no earth

 

[sparkdog]

Just had one the other day,no earth.They didn't seem all that bothered about it either.

 

[driverman]

Yes that's correct Scottish power put the meter outside but left the property with no earth

Was there an earth there before? Could it be a TT system? It may well be the onus is on the electrician who reconnected the supply. Did Scottish Power employ the electrician to reconnect supply?

 

[guest119]

Im not so sure the dno are obliged to supply an earth but they should have informed the owner of any supply characteristics changes. IE removal of the existing earthing.

 

[Farmelectrics]

Well they were coming back out today to sort it out that's an admittance to there mistake to me

 

[mechelec]

It's been like that since 2002. Do you think thr property owners could sue Scottish power

Sue for what ? Nothing has happened has it ? Or maybe the stress it has caused them for the last 12 years.......oh wait they didn't know did they.

 

[Farmelectrics]

There very lucky nothing did happen wouldn't want my kids living in a house with no earth protection very surprised by an electricians layed back attitude to a potentially dangerous installation

 

[mechelec]

There very lucky nothing did happen wouldn't want my kids living in a house with no earth protection very surprised by an electricians layed back attitude to a potentially dangerous installation

I agree that it is wrong to leave a potentially dangerous condition such as this and if heaven forbid something had happened then there would be a case to find who was responsible and ensure it didn't happen again.
My post was in reference to the now usual response of who can we sue to get a bit of compensation that has made everyone afraid to do anything.

 

[Farmelectrics]

I'm not saying they are going to sue I'm just asking would they have a case a guy came to my house last year and changed the meter to one of these smart meters and at least he checked for correct polarity before he left so why didn't this cowboy from the dno carry out a ze test before he left as this would have confirmed the problem

 

[trev]

There very lucky nothing did happen wouldn't want my kids living in a house with no earth protection very surprised by an electricians layed back attitude to a potentially dangerous installation

To sue, and therefore claim damages, there has to be some damage done whether that be physical, emotional or financial. The fact of the matter is that although Scottish Power appear to have been negligent (on the information we currently have) no damage has been done to anyone or their property.
Yes it's pretty serious that a property has been relying on picking up an earth thought it's bonding but no one has received a shock, the property hasn't burnt down and everyone is still alive.
What possible grounds could they have for litigation? I doubt even the worst kind of ambulance chaser would take this one to court