Main Electric Supply Box On Outside Wall Of House

wroenaldinho

Hi All

We are putting an extension on to one of our properties and we have come across an issue with a main electric supply box which is attached to our property.

I have never come across this sort of thing before, and never knew these things existed until now, always thought they run under ground.

i have contacted the electric board and they have asked for a picture and measurements to be sent to them, then they can get someone out to look at it first. sounds to me like they are looking to quote?

The box supplies our property and another 3 houses. Who's responsibility is it to move this box?

one of my issues is the box is old fashioned and i feel it should have been changed a long time ago. I feel i should also advise the electric board that it is a health and safety issue as the ducting is starting to corrode. Birds have nested in there at some point as recently a dead bird fell out.

Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

wroenaldinho

here is a picture of the electric box

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByggzU1xQAkFZzR6TnNXZlJUZFk/view?usp=docslist_api

manda1205

Whilst ours didn't look the same as yours, we had a similar problem when we did an extension. Our wiring chains through 4 houses, power network had recently came out and changed the first half of the wiring as it was old and our neighbours had had problems with it, so when we did our extension, we had to ask for it to be to be sheathed so it was safe to work near, when they came out to do it, they then said it wasn't safe so re-wired it all the same as the first half had been done. It was handy for us as we did actually need it moving a few inches higher, this meant we didn't have to pay, as it was a safety issue.
I would ask power network to come out and look at it as you think its unsafe and corroding, they will then hopefully deem it unsafe and change it all for new, if you need it moving too, it would be a good idea to butter up the blokes who come and do it (that's what we did, lots of tea and biscuits ). BTW it does look worse than ours was so I would be pretty sure they'll change it.

ic

There is probably a wayleave on the property - a previous resident will probably have allowed it to be installed, accepting a small payment at the time. If it were judged to be dangerous, they'd simply repair or replace in situ - I highly doubt it'd result in them moving it for free for you.

Get them out to quote. I have a similar box on my house, which feeds another three houses. When I had an extension and had to relocate the meter, they worked on this box live without interrupting the supply to the neighbours. I paid £400 to have the meter moved - I had to drill holes ready for them, and the work took them about 40 mins to complete. I then had my own electrician hook back up my supply (at further cost...). Looking around I got it cheap - a meter move could cost three or four times this.

Get them out to take a look and quote you - they're the only people that can do the work. My work was with Electricity North West - I found them very friendly and approachable. They were keen to do the work and I had to delay them twice as I struggle to arrange all the other trades around them.