Electric meter is blocked by other equipment

n_shah

I live in an block of flats which has a electric cupboard for each floor. I want to get my electric meter upgraded to a smart meter, but I've recently found that there is other electrical equipment (like CCTV receiver) blocking part of my meter, preventing the engineer from accessing and changing the meter.
I have spoken to the management company about getting access, but I've been told that this will cost me money, even if it's not my own doing. To quote their reply:

I understand that you wish to install a smart meter and the CCTV equipment is in the way, so we can offer you two options:

1. We’re happy to give you authority to remove it for the duration of the installation, but you need to ensure that once your new meter is installed, the CCTV equipment is up and running again.
2. We can ask our engineer to remove the system for a few hours and refit it back later that day, but the cost of the engineer would have to be covered by yourself

Is this fair? Shouldn't I have access to my own meter? Is the above legal and is there anything I could point the company to, and force them to cover the costs of their own mistake?

spiro

If the supplier had to change the meter, they would tell you to get the obstruction moved. Can you post a photo so we can get a better idea of how bad the obstruction is?

tacpot12

While it is not really fair that you should have to pay this, I don't think there is any legislation that guarantees that you should have enough access to the meter to change it. You won't need to have your meter changed very often (perhaps every 20 years) and you don't want a argument if your engineer breaks their CCTV system, so perhaps it would be best to just pay the charge for their engineer to attend.

You might be able to slip them £100 to move the CCTV Equipment to a slightly better position so that future changes are easier, but given how often you will need to change the meter, I can't see it being worthwhile.

Gerry1

It's likely that the Ts &Cs that applied when the meters were installed state that access to the meters must be made available whenever required, so the management company would be in breach by allowing the CCTV equipment to block access.

n_shah

Thanks for the help everyone. I've moved the CCTV monitor out of the way, so the meter is now (hopefully) fully accessible. My meter is the last one on the left (closest to back wall). I will contact my energy company and check that this is sufficient for them to change the meter.

What you don't see in the photo is the CCTV recording unit, which is just below the black (old school) meter on the end. Its not blocking any of the wires so hopefully will not be an issue otherwise will also have to get that temporarily removed.