Re-locating gas and electricity meter - Can OVO help?

Welcome @Eirida ! :)

I think I can answer this one. If you’re currently supplied by OVO, then yep. OVO can indeed assist with relocating your meters. You may also need to get your local DNO and Gas Transporter involved as well, but we be able to give you advice on how to contact them right here on the forum. All I’d need to ask there is which county you’re in, so that I can check which DNO/GT covers your area. You can find OVO’s job list and prices over here too.

It sounds like your builder is correct in that you’re not allowed to move the meters yourself, but you can have them moved indoors if you wish. I would suggest asking the Support Team for help as they might need to run through a few checks. I know loads of people who have both meters inside the house, so I can’t see too much of a problem here. If a meter reader stops by, they’ll need to knock your door and greet you anyway, regardless of where the meters are.

Thanks for the reply @Blastoise186. We were not planning to move them ourselves, to be honest not planned to move them at all until today when told that the new door can’t be installed due to meters can’t be enclosed and need to stay outside the house. We would like them moved outside the house, gas would move about 50cm, for the electricity it would be around 1m-1.3m. I am confused a bit as read some posts where people have their meters in the kitchen or living room. 
We live in Berkshire, if you could let me know DNO contact details that would be great. Will they be able to tell me if they need to get involved? I rather they don’t due to costs 😊

I can indeed.

I think your DNO is UK Power Networks, and you can find their details in this handy guide we created. :)

They’ll hopefully be able to tell you if they need to step in or not. Some DNO’s like Western Power Distribution are amazing - WPD really cares about great service and would most likely tell you in a heartbeat. But unfortunately WPD isn’t your DNO in this case.

Personally, I don’t see any need to move your meters in this case, but definitely feel free to ask OVO. I think you’ll be glad to know I also like to be @Transparent where possible. So I’ll borrow the experience that Transparent has too. :)

Hi @Eirida - yes I’m well aware of the ‘rules’ concerning the re-location of meters. There is no law as such about where meters may be moved to.

There used to be such a ‘principle’ prior to the roll-out of Smart Meters. That principle was to have meters sited within enclosures on the outside of a building, such that they could be read without an appointment being made to enter the premises.

The guidelines are implemented by your local Gas Distribution Network (GDN) operator and electricity Distribution Network Operator (DNO). The latter have an umbrella organisation, called the Electricity Networks Association (ENA) which assists with harmonising those guidelines across DNOs.

There is a stronger case for any relocation of a gas meter to require that it be within an external enclosure. That allows the shut-off valve handle to be accessible from outside in the case of emergency, and reduces the risk of gas escape inside the property. So if you want it moved such that it should be within the house then you’ll need to have a pretty good reason why!

A GDN will typically charge about £150 for a gas meter relocation into an enclosure which has been provided by you (via your builder). You will then need to employ a Gas Safe engineer to connect your internal pipework to that new position, and an electrician to connect and test the safety earth to that pipework within 600mm of the entry point to the building. That’s four possible bills:

• builder for installing the enclosure
• GDN to move the meter feed pipe
• Gas-Safe engineer for internal pipes
• electrician for earthing

And that’s why it’s worthwhile seeking advice from OVO who may be able to coordinate this within a one-off fee and avoid issues where part of the work straddles two tradesmen. The meter is in any case their responsibility.

Turning to the matter of electricity: If @Blastoise186 is correct that UK Power Networks is your DNO, then you should read their website page about moving meters… and especially Point-3.

In some cases a DNO will require that the cable feed to your house is upgraded and the Service Fuse capacity increased. This would apply for example if it is already too small to allow for installation of an EV charger.

You should in any case consider now how you are going to heat the house within the next few years. If a Heat pump is a possibility, then this is the moment when your DNO are within their rights to require that your supply is changed to 3-phase.

This depends on factors not known to you or your builder, such as the available spare capacity of the local substation transformer and the associated underground feed cables.

@Eirida - do you also want any advice or comment on cables (or gas pipes) going through walls?

Or are you happy that your tradesmen will re-route everything through holes lined with conduit as part of meter relocation work?

Just to clarify this one - as it appears your builder was suggesting the meters aren’t allowed to be inside, we’re not aware of any restrictions which would prevent you having your meters located within your property, so long as they are still accessible (ie, the door shown in your photo perpendicular to the front door is still able to open and the meters can still be read in their current location). Obviously if this isn’t the case and the meters become inaccessible that becomes a problem!

Some great advice from our resident home-building expert, @Transparent here. Whilst we can help move a meter short distances, if you’re looking to move it over 1 metre from it’s current location or onto a different wall, that’s where your DNO would also need to be involved - Usually we’d advise contacting your DNO to schedule an appointment with them (with at least 17 working days notice), then contacting our Support team, who can co-ordinate one of our engineers to visit and complete our part of the meter relocation on the same day. As there will be costs involved (we charge £125 to move an electricity meter and £145 to move a gas meter - find out more here) it’s worth considering carefully whether this work is necessary. It would obviously free up some space inside for other uses but is by no means a legal requirement for the meters to be outside. 

Thank you so much for a great advise @Transparent and @Jess_OVO ! If we don’t need to move the meters to the outside for us to install additional door then it is great as the builder really upset me yesterday saying this would be illegal and cause all sort of risks. We will install a nice cupboard for the meters and it will be easily accessible. We also have an engineer coming in to install the new smart meters on the 20th so will get their view too. Have a great day

I am unsurprised that your builder was incorrect in his advice to you yesterday.

They must find it very difficult to keep up with current strategies on energy matters. The Building Regulations section (Part-L) on “Conservation of Energy and Heat” is about to receive a major update in order to address Climate Change.

Please tell your builder that he/she is very welcome to ask for help here on the Forum. It doesn’t matter that they are professionally involved. Access is free to all.

Before your Smart meters get installed on 20th @Eirida can you check if there’s an earth wire connected to the output pipe from your gas meter?

Your photo shows four earth-wires connecting to the consumer unit, but all disappear into the wall in the opposite direction.

The installer won’t proceed unless there is an earth-bond within 600mm of the point of entry to the house. So I would expect to see it connected to the vertical pipe on the far (right hand) side of the existing gas meter.

Hi - i am considering moving to OVO and am currently i am currently with Scottish Power - they took over our utilities when our old provider went bust.

I need to get my electric meter moved from my garage which is being knocked down to build an extension. It needs to be moved about 4 meters in to the main house. I have all the necessary excavation work done and my distributor on standby but am reliant on Scottish Power coming out aswell  as only they can move the smart meter. I have spent 3 weeks on the phone to them and cant even a call back from the right department. I spend hours every day on calls to the call centre in India and I am getting nowhere and think my only option is to move energy providers. So my question is has anyone had a smart meter moved through OVO and was it easy to arrange? When i move i need to be confident that the job will get done

Thanks