Issues with main line to electricity following survey - any advice?

Jackies

DH and I are in process of buying a house and were due to exchange next week.....our survey suggested that the electrics may not be up to standard and we should get an electrician to check them our - a friend of ours is an electrician and he agreed to look

This weekend he took a look and said that the internal electrics were ok (fusebox and electrics appear to have been upgraded when the vendor re-did her kitchen 4 years ago). However the main-line which supplies the house/fusebox is melting....and is a significant fire risk. He thinks it has been melting for some time and says that its only a matter of time before the wire could catch fire, but that it was impossible to say how long that might be

He said this could be because:

a) because the wire is defective
b) because the wire is old (1930's house) and therefore is due a upgrade anyway
c) because the load that house is requiring from the junction box since the kitchen was upgraded (vendor put in extra sockets, new lighting, new electric oven and new switches) is greater than capacity of the wire and therefore it is overheating and melting.

He said that as it is the main-line which is melting that a standard electrician couldn't deal with this and it would be the responsibility of the company who deal with external electrics (e.g. those out in the street) as the wire would need replacing from the house to the junction box

We called EDF who said that actually it would be the UK Power Network that we'd need to speak to and gave us a telephone number but noone is at UKPN until tomorrow.

Our electrcian said it could cost thousands to repair, and could result in them having to dig up the road depending on the cable's path

Of course we will be calling them tomorrow to find out where we stand in terms of getting this fixed and whose responsibility it is to pay for (?the vendor or ?UKPN if the wire is defective) but was wondering if anyone had an advice or experience? I've tried to google but so far come up with nothing..........................

(I hope the above makes sense - thats my basic understanding of what he explained to me! I'm not an electrician! lol)

chris_m

Can't see why UKPN would be liable if the vendor increased the load on the supply circuit and didn't arrange for it to be upgraded or even tell the supply company when they did it.

MissPoppy_3

Had a bit of experience not as bad as yours a few months back in that earth wasn't wired up from before the meter up to the fuse box. Don't know how long it had been like that but was classed as an emergency and electricity company came out at 8pm to fix it at no cost to us.
We were pretty much told that the electrics that come into the house prior to the fuse box was definately the electric companies responsibility.

I really can't see how this would be any different for you.

Jackies

MissPoppy wrote: »

Had a bit of experience not as bad as yours a few months back in that earth wasn't wired up from before the meter up to the fuse box. Don't know how long it had been like that but was classed as an emergency and electricity company came out at 8pm to fix it at no cost to us.
We were pretty much told that the electrics that come into the house prior to the fuse box was definately the electric companies responsibility.

I really can't see how this would be any different for you.

Hi Miss Poppy - did your electrical company fix it (as in the people who you are paying for your electricity) or was it nation grid type people?

Jackies

chris_m wrote: »

Can't see why UKPN would be liable if the vendor increased the load on the supply circuit and didn't arrange for it to be upgraded or even tell the supply company when they did it.

well at the moment we don't know if it is becuase of the vendor icnreasing the load or whether there is something up with the wire - it was just one of the potential options that he used to explain why it might be

DVardysShadow

What is the evidence which leads to the conclusion that the incoming cable is melting? Sometimes the incoming cable box for the service cutout fuse is filled with bitumen, which drips at a slow pace for decades.

I doubt explanation c]. House service connections are generally adequate - and adding extra sockets does not do much to increase demand - it just makes it easier to plug things in.

Jackies

DVardysShadow wrote: »

What is the evidence which leads to the conclusion that the incoming cable is melting? .

Well he looked at it and said it was melting - I asume he knows what he's talking about and if it was because of something else dripping I'd assume he'd know.......

Horseunderwater

Jackies wrote: »

DH and I are in process of buying a house and were due to exchange next week.....our survey suggested that the electrics may not be up to standard and we should get an electrician to check them our - a friend of ours is an electrician and he agreed to look

This weekend he took a look and said that the internal electrics were ok (fusebox and electrics appear to have been upgraded when the vendor re-did her kitchen 4 years ago). However the main-line which supplies the house/fusebox is melting....and is a significant fire risk. He thinks it has been melting for some time and says that its only a matter of time before the wire could catch fire, but that it was impossible to say how long that might be

He said this could be because:

a) because the wire is defective
b) because the wire is old (1930's house) and therefore is due a upgrade anyway
c) because the load that house is requiring from the junction box since the kitchen was upgraded (vendor put in extra sockets, new lighting, new electric oven and new switches) is greater than capacity of the wire and therefore it is overheating and melting.

He said that as it is the main-line which is melting that a standard electrician couldn't deal with this and it would be the responsibility of the company who deal with external electrics (e.g. those out in the street) as the wire would need replacing from the house to the junction box

We called EDF who said that actually it would be the UK Power Network that we'd need to speak to and gave us a telephone number but noone is at UKPN until tomorrow.

Our electrcian said it could cost thousands to repair, and could result in them having to dig up the road depending on the cable's path

Of course we will be calling them tomorrow to find out where we stand in terms of getting this fixed and whose responsibility it is to pay for (?the vendor or ?UKPN if the wire is defective) but was wondering if anyone had an advice or experience? I've tried to google but so far come up with nothing..........................

(I hope the above makes sense - thats my basic understanding of what he explained to me! I'm not an electrician! lol)

Are you talking about the mains supply from road into house to meter? If so that ought to be the responsibilty of the Nat Power grid I think it is. There might be a fee involved, but it may be free. Entirely depends on what the problem is. We have periodicall had our internal wires inspected and replaced upto the meter on at least 2 different occasions and we have been in this house now since 1992. You should only be responsible for wiring from meter box to fuse box and beyond. If the fuse box has correct fuses in it and all the internal wiring in the house has been upgraded to take correct rating on the ring mains, then all should be OK. Your Pal should know that if they are competant.

DVardysShadow

Jackies wrote: »

Well he looked at it and said it was melting - I asume he knows what he's talking about and if it was because of something else dripping I'd assume he'd know.......

But explanation c] rather throws his assessment into doubt. If it is your house, then dealing with it will be straightforward. But as you have not exchanged, it is a lot more tricky - and taking an assessment like this at face value can cause some grief if you ask the vendor to get something sorted out which is not the real problem - or not a problem at all.

Jackies

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Are you talking about the mains supply from road into house to meter?

This is my understanding....can't speak to anyone at National Grid till tomorrow till tomorrow though

G_M

The supply to the house up to the meter is the responsibility of the REC (Regional Electricity Company). It is not the house-holder's responsibility. Beyond the meter (the fuse box and subsequent internal wiring) is.