Electricity cables in loft space

kevinhughes

Hi all,

We have recently bought a flat was previously one house split into two, we have the top half. The property is an old building and the electricity meter is in the kitchen within a hideous cupboard along with the boiler which is taking up allot of space. We want to move the meter and install a combi boiler therefore getting rid of the cupboard in the kitchen. The cable and meter 'owned' by the electricity company would have to be moved which is not a problem however, we have had three electricians round to give us quotes and one of them said that having the mains cable for the house running up through the loft space is not the greatest option safety wise. The other electrician said this was not a safety concern, therefore I am confused with conflicting responses.

I got the electricity company to visit the property and they said there is no safety concerns as there is a circuit breaker, albeit in the down stairs property (not ideal) where the supply comes in, therefore no concerns over safety. The electricity company said other option would be to have a supply directly off the street into our property and run the cable up the wall. However this option would be expensive and involve digging up the road/driveway etc.

Has anyone had any similar concerns, I take running cables for mains electricity supply up through the loft space if fairly common whereby properties have been split into two from one house. Anyone thoughts on this greatly appreciated.

DVardysShadow

Do you have access to this Circuit Breaker down stairs? Or if it trips and the downstairs people are on holiday do you have to wait till they come back?

If access is not guaranteed, I would look at getting the separate supply. And similarly I would look at the technical adequacy of the cable and the circuit breaker.

kevinhughes

I don’t at present have access to the property down stairs, although I expect there would not be an issue getting a key should the neighbor go on holiday etc. In fact we gave them our key to watch the property as we are currently not living in the house as we have allot of renovation work to do.

We only moved into the property a week ago but I will ask if we can have a key as they are aware of the circuit breaker being in their property. Please note, we have our own fuse box/mains switch and meter in our flat, it's just the electricity's company's circuit breaker for the mains electricity supply off the street that is in the down stairs property.

It's not an ideal situation but the electricity company said the cost of them installing a new supply would be upwards of 2k and I would need to dig my own trench on my own property for them to lay their cables, and we would have to wait three months before they have an available slot.

The best solution is to have our own dedicated supply this is something longer term we can look at as we have allot of other renovation costs. I was more concerned about the safety of the present installation. Scottish Power our provider state it is completely safe, but as I mentioned one electrician had concerns.

After phoning Scottish Power again today they reiterated again this was safe and mentioned the point in that the electrician cannot comment on Scottish Power owned electrics/cabling as he is not qualified to do so.

The other two electricians I had in to view the property did not mention any safety concerns.

DVardysShadow

kevinhughes wrote: »

I don’t at present have access to the property down stairs, although I expect there would not be an issue getting a key should the neighbor go on holiday etc. In fact we gave them our key to watch the property as we are currently not living in the house as we have allot of renovation work to do.

We only moved into the property a week ago but I will ask if we can have a key as they are aware of the circuit breaker being in their property. Please note, we have our own fuse box/mains switch and meter in our flat, it's just the electricity's company's circuit breaker for the mains electricity supply off the street that is in the down stairs property.It's not an ideal situation but the electricity company said the cost of them installing a new supply would be upwards of 2k and I would need to dig my own trench on my own property for them to lay their cables, and we would have to wait three months before they have an available slot.

Far from ideal. Even if you can get an informal arrangement put in place, it might be withdrawn at any time, for example new occupiers downstairs. Even if you don't fix it now, I would suggest that as part of your rearrangements, you do it in such a way that a new supply can be easily installed.

kevinhughes wrote: »

The best solution is to have our own dedicated supply this is something longer term we can look at as we have allot of other renovation costs. I was more concerned about the safety of the present installation. Scottish Power our provider state it is completely safe, but as I mentioned one electrician had concerns.

After phoning Scottish Power again today they reiterated again this was safe and mentioned the point in that the electrician cannot comment on Scottish Power owned electrics/cabling as he is not qualified to do so.

The other two electricians I had in to view the property did not mention any safety concerns.

Depends how hard they try, but electricians can be qualified to comment - usually more so than anyone in a call centre

kevinhughes

Hi there, many thanks for your reply. Yes I plan to put in place the meter correctly so should we wish at a later date change the supply then the job is simpler. If I had a bucket full of money and time then I would change to have my own dedicated line, but sadly this is not the case. I phoned back my electrican and let him now about what Scottish Power said, he seemed reassured that there was in place a circuit breaker off the main street supply. Therefore I am happy to proceed. Many thanks DVardysShadow.