My smart meter couldn't be installed because of an earth cable - Why?

Okay this is interesting - I've just read a few threads on the forum where Lowri Beck engineers refused to do work where other engineers have completed it. As you've recently changed engineers (according to Tim, quoted below). please can I arrange a new visit to sort this out - its such a simple issue and I'd rather have the smart meter installed as promised instead of having the crawl to the back of the under stair cupboard every month. (The original install was attempted in Oct17 so was definitely attempted by LB rather than your new suppliers).

We actually no longer use Lowri Beck to fit our smart meters. We use the Meter Operator 'Siemens' instead.
https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meter-booking-and-installations-66/bad-experience-getting-a-smart-meter-why-do-energy-companies-use-lowri-beck-1760

@Geo, I'm more than a little surprised at what I read here.

Let me first give a general overview of the Regulations:-

An earthing wire (actually called equipotential bonding) should be connected to the (metal) gas pipe within 600mm of the point where it enters the building. In almost all circumstances this will be 10sq.mm (x-sectional area of copper).

I actually posted a photo of my gas meter on the Forum earlier this week for another reason. Let me re-post here so you can see:

In my case you will notice that the earth-bond is outside the house. This was my choice because, on the other side of the wall, the copper pipe passes below an internal floor, and would therefore be difficult to check.

A few months ago I visited a recently-purchased house in Surrey where the previous owner had Smart Meters fitted just a year previously. To my astonishment, the Installer had found no earth connection from the Electricity Consumer Unit ("fuse box") to a ground stake, so he had installed one himself.... 10m of fresh cable and a copper earth-stake by the front porch.

This was totally wrong. He had failed to understand the principles of PME, whereby the earth is many UK locations is provided by the Distributed Network Operator (DNO) via the cable connecting houses to the sub-station. The Surrey house was indeed a PME site. An electrician was called; the DNO consulted, and the new earth cabling/stake removed again!

So, returning to your particular case, where the gas meter is positioned within the dwelling, the chances of the Smart Meter Installer finding an earth connection extremely close to the meter location is very high. That's almost certainly going to be the point which best complies with the regulations.

So I'm stunned to read @Eva_OVO's comment that OVO's engineers aren't insured to move an earth cable. I actually met Eva at OVO just yesterday (she's a very welcome new asset to the Moderator Team).

The Installer in Surrey clearly believed that he was required to fit an entire new earth and stake as part of his work. Although in that case his reasoning was erroneous, it still shows a wide discrepancy of (mis-)understanding between two Installers on the same issue!

So if an OVO Installer's not insured, are we to believe that he will leave site with the original gas meter still present, only to return again once an electrician has relocated the earth-bonding clamp?!

That would be an extraordinary waste of time/effort.

Suppose the Installer finds the earth-bond on the incomer side of the meter. Once he/she has replaced it with a new Smart Meter, how could it be checked that the earth resistance is still sufficiently low? Does an OVO Installer then do a continuity test?

If not, then it's possible that the gunk used to seal the new gas meter connections will mean that there is now inadequate continuity through the meter to the appliances within the house.

@Eva_OVO, since I now know where you sit, can you have a word with one of the guys behind you and re-check this please?

I would have expected to find that all Installation Engineers are required to verify the earth-bonding system after fitting a Smart Meter, and to adjust it if necessary.

As I'm a self-builder (with a basic understanding of Regulations) would a suitably qualified Forum Member like to comment here please?

Are any electricians or Gas-Safe engineers reading this?

You’re absolutely right, @Transparent, I do sit in front of the experts - and I’ve double checked this with them.

Our engineers are solely meter operators. So they’re specifically trained and qualified to come to a property, isolate the supply, exchange the meter and then reconnect the supply. Anything before and after the meter and in this case the earth wire, we’re not responsible for.

The engineers aren’t qualified electricians, so although they could remove the earth wire they wouldn’t be able to put it back on and this could make it unsafe.

The engineer may have the knowledge to remove the earth wire but they’re not certified to do so.

Hope this clears things up a little.

Thanks, @Eva_OVO. Yes, it's clear now what OVO's position is with regards to Earth Continuity Bonding.

However, even as a non-professional self-builder, I still think there's a safety problem here. If the installation work does basic stuff like checking for no gas-leaks, but doesn't include any verification that pre-existing earth-bonding remains compliant, then the house could be left in a worse state than before.

Moreover, the house-owner would be unaware that the meter upgrade has left gas appliances inadequately earthed. No electrician would be summoned to check this.

I'd really like to hear what some qualified engineers have to say. Is @PeterR1947 around?

It seems crazy to me that these guys are trained to disconnect a meter from a 250V supply but aren't allowed to touch the earth bonding; all three connections are vital to a safe electrical system. This smacks of covering my backside.

In the case in question, for the sake of undoing and moving a pipe clamp, which is hardly rocket science, a second visit and the resources to make that happen would have been avoided -Crazy!

Our engineers are solely meter operators. So they’re specifically trained and qualified to come to a property, isolate the supply, exchange the meter and then reconnect the supply. Anything before and after the meter and in this case the earth wire, we’re not responsible for.

The engineers aren’t qualified electricians, so although they could remove the earth wire they wouldn’t be able to put it back on and this could make it unsafe.

The engineer may have the knowledge to remove the earth wire but they’re not certified to do so.


@Eva_OVO Whilst I understand what you're trying to say your argument is somewhat broken by the fact that they *also* fit the electricity meters at the same time which makes the idea that they aren't qualified electricians sound a little strange ;)

As I say it sounds like a bit of regulatory politics gone mad. If the engineer had just moved the wire in the first instance you wouldn't be having to deal with this, the telephone "hot line" wouldn't be having to deal with it, the "experts" wouldn't be having to deal with it and the engineers wouldn't be making two separate visits to sort it.

All that said that's what has happened so please can you confirm that my solution above is acceptable - I'd like to get this sorted asap.

Thanks.

Hi @Geo,

You're coming through LOUD and CLEAR !!

I think there's a number of things fundamentally wrong with what these Meter Installation Engineers are and are not permitted to do. And I'm pretty sure the limitations are different between companies too.

May I please comment on your specific installation:-

1. I don't know from where your gas incomer pipe arrives in the photos you've supplied. If the wall to the right of the gas meter is not an external wall, then I deduce that the earth bonding clamp is already more than 600mm from the entry point into the building, and therefore doesn't technically comply with the regs.

Moving it further along the output pipe from the meter would make no difference... and it still wouldn't comply.

However, the conductivity of a 22mm copper pipe is excellent, and personally I doubt that this would be regarded as anything more than the lowest level of "fail". In safety terms it would almost certainly still be effective, which is the whole point.


2. If the Meter Installer is going to extend the output pipe of the meter higher in order to accommodate the larger OVO Smart Meter (made by Secure), then I assume he's going to cut the existing pipe and solder on a new connector.

If I was doing this, I would most certainly do the hot soldering work first, and only re-attach an earthing clamp after the new pipe was cold and checked for leaks in the fresh joint.

There are two reasons for not soldering close to an earth-bond in the location indicated by your arrow:

• The heat could melt the insulation of the earth wires (minor issue)
• The expansion and contraction of the pipe would loosen the grip of the earth-clamp on the pipe

This latter point is a safety issue. There's no point having a qualified electrician move the clamp and test it for continuity if the subsequent meter installation then compromises the very connection that's just been passed as acceptable!


3. So - what would I do in your situation...?

I'd instruct the OVO Meter Installer to completely disconnect the earth clamp and move the earth-bonding cables away from where he will solder. (Or I'd do it myself!)

I'd then book the electrician to attend site after the meter installation is completed so that the safety earth can be properly attached onto the cold pipe and tested.


In these matters, common sense should be applied in generous quantities 🙂