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

 

[Farmelectrics]

Ok I'll take it no further action needed but isn't it wrong we have to wait for a fatality before people get brought to justice and there's me thinking the dno Sparks are spot on at what they do now I'm not for one minute saying I'm a world beater cos I'm not but I am a competent and safe electrician who tests everything I do and wouldn't off left the job in the dangerous condition it was thanks for all your replys interesting reading case closed ha ha

 

[driverman]

Ok I'll take it no further action needed but isn't it wrong we have to wait for a fatality before people get brought to justice and there's me thinking the dno Sparks are spot on at what they do now I'm not for one minute saying I'm a world beater cos I'm not but I am a competent and safe electrician who tests everything I do and wouldn't off left the job in the dangerous condition it was thanks for all your replys interesting reading case closed ha ha

Let us all know the final outcome after Scottish Power have visited please. Would be nice to know.

 

[Farmelectrics]

ok scottish power have phoned up this morning and informed the customer (home owner) that they need to provide proof ie an eicr that all is well in there property before returning to the house to reconnect the pme head surely this isnt right why would they leave a property with out an earth and if they deem it unsafe why not pull the fuse your thoughts and help please

 

[driverman]

ok scottish power have phoned up this morning and informed the customer (home owner) that they need to provide proof ie an eicr that all is well in there property before returning to the house to reconnect the pme head surely this isnt right why would they leave a property with out an earth and if they deem it unsafe why not pull the fuse your thoughts and help please

Question..Who actually reconnected the property up after the meter was first moved?

 

[Farmelectrics]

The dno

 

[rattlehead85]

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

DNO carry out a Ze test...you must be jokin' half of them idiots couldn't tell you what a Ze test is let alone what test instrument you'd need to measure it.
I was on a job last week where a cast iron 80 year old head was still in service containing 2 porcelain rewireable fuses one in the line and one in the neutral conductor. We reported it to the DLO. Chappy turns up 2 days later takes one look at it and says...'been there years...yeah its old but we aint touching it....dunno why it has a fuse in the neutral but its alright...thanks for calling. SUMS THAT LOT UP!!

 

[davesparks]

The DNO in this area always carry out a Ze test when they install or move a supply and usually write the value on the head.
It's SSE in this area.

 

[davesparks]

ok scottish power have phoned up this morning and informed the customer (home owner) that they need to provide proof ie an eicr that all is well in there property before returning to the house to reconnect the pme head surely this isnt right why would they leave a property with out an earth and if they deem it unsafe why not pull the fuse your thoughts and help please

They have no power to cut off the supply due to the installation being dangerous, they can only cut you off for non-payment of the bill or if your installation is damaging to their network.

They do need confirmation that the main bonding is present and correct before they can connect PME though.

 

[driverman]

DNO carry out a Ze test...you must be jokin' half of them idiots couldn't tell you what a Ze test is let alone what test instrument you'd need to measure it.
I was on a job last week where a cast iron 80 year old head was still in service containing 2 porcelain rewireable fuses one in the line and one in the neutral conductor. We reported it to the DLO. Chappy turns up 2 days later takes one look at it and says...'been there years...yeah its old but we aint touching it....dunno why it has a fuse in the neutral but its alright...thanks for calling. SUMS THAT LOT UP!!

The DNO usually once they know that a metal cut-out is still in use will change it to an up to date cut out. I would of thought even more so with neutral fuse still in use. The guy on site may of been speaking with tongue in cheek but has more than likely reported it to his bosses

 

[driverman]

Local DNO WPD (Central Networks before that) in my area, have always carried out Ze readings before and after work carried out. WPD tend to write reading on the cut out.

 

[driverman]

The dno

Then in that case..........It is their responsibility to come back and sort it. It is as simple as that. As they have ( from your information given) altered the characteristics of your electrical installation. In doing so, a certificate should of been issued to house owner. Did customer request the meter be moved and receive a quote? Surly, customer has an earth by now!....Don't they?

 

[Engineer54]

The DNO usually once they know that a metal cut-out is still in use will change it to an up to date cut out. I would of thought even more so with neutral fuse still in use. The guy on site may of been speaking with tongue in cheek but has more than likely reported it to his bosses

In fact, the DNO's have been instructed to change out all metalclad service heads with rewirable fuses in both line and neutral. The deadline as i remember was either September 2011 or 2012, but as usual they failed and were given an extension of some sort. If you report such a service head they are duty bound to change it out, if they refuse contact the Ombudsman and complain.
They have been officially deemed as being Dangerous to DNO and meter operator staff that need to pull fuses in the course of their duties....

 

[Farmelectrics]

Today the dno have finally come out and reinstated the pme head after telling them on the phone that they have a legal requirement to provide an earthing arrangement for each property the engineer that come out looked rather embarrassed and couldn't believe the property has no earthing arrangement since 2002 job closed well for him anyway could of opened a can of worms cos the neighbors is exactly the same and God nose how many others are like that

 

[trev]

How do you know next door is earth free mate? Have you checked?

 

[Farmelectrics]

Yes tried to test no earth there