Who is responsible for electric mains coming into house?

brunettegirl

My OH Earth wire on the mains coming into his house is very very old, it still has the old cloth covering on the very thin wire. It is obviously not up to current safety requirements, but we are unsure if it is his responsibility to get it replaced as it is coming into the house....

Can anyone advise please

thank you

Owain_Moneysaver

Anything before the meter is the supplier's responsibility.

fluffpot

The wire might be old, but without testing it's not possible to tell if it needs replacing. get an electrician in to test your earth - it' shouldn't take more than 15 mins.

Generally earthing is the responsibility of the electricity supplier, but not always.... your electrician can advise

Fluff

DVardysShadow

If it is overhead mains, then it is very unusual to get an earth wire.

baldelectrician

If it is an existing earth the local supplier have a responsability (assuming they have provided it)

The supplier does not have a duty to supply an earth, but usually do

brunettegirl

fluffpot wrote: »

The wire might be old, but without testing it's not possible to tell if it needs replacing. get an electrician in to test your earth - it' shouldn't take more than 15 mins. it isn't the standard size it is less than 3mm thick and covered in disintigrating cloth.... we thought the H&S requirement was at least 10 mm. I know that mine in my house is at least 15 mm thick.

Generally earthing is the responsibility of the electricity supplier, but not always.... your electrician can advise - the electrician won't touch it as he says its not safe and until it has been changed he doesn't want to know.

When I spoke to N power last night they were unsure of responsibility, I have been told to speak to distribution on Monday.... does this sound correct?

thank you

fluffpot

I see lots of old earths like this - getting the supplier to upgrade is often quite difficult as the wire may be sweated onto the lead sheath of the supply cable.

Did your sparks take an earth test? If there is NO earth (this can be the case even if an earth cable is present) then this is a different matter. In fact main earth must be 16mm square- on the consumers side, the supply companies seem to go by their own rules... The size of the earth cable must be enough to carry the fault current - which varies with each installation and 16mm squared covers the worst case scenario.

By all means try to get the supply company to upgrade, but be aware that it might be difficult. I have installed a few earth rods as the customer cannot get a proper earth from the supplier.

Might be worth getting a second opinion from an electrician too, unless of course you are not earthed, then he's right.

Yes you are right the distributor will be responsible as all the 'hardware' ie elec supply cable belongs to them

Hope this helps

Fluff

paulpud

The soundness of the main earth should be verified using a combination of visual inspection and by carrying out an earth loop impedance test. As long as there is a good, reliable, physical connection to earth and the test result is within acceptable limits, the actual size of the supply earth conductor is of less significance. The main concern is that the resistance of the earth path is sufficiently low to enable efficient dispersal of any earth leakage and tripping of relevant overload and/or residual current devices.

BS7671 applies to the consumer's side of the installation only; the suppliers have their own rules and as a result cable sizes for both earthing and mains electrical conductors are often much smaller than would be required under BS7671