Refused a smart meter due to work at height?

Hey ​@portland555 ,

Let me fling this backstage and get some thoughts.

Back soon!

Thanks ​@Blastoise186 . I recall at the time, they wanted us to a provide scaffold platform in the entrance hall which seems a bit over the top. If that is essential, why can’t Ovo just arrange it all for me?

ok thank’s think I’ll leave it as is then! I don’t think it is possible to move the meter. Shame they saw fit to install it in such a silly location in 2007 when the property was fully refurbished!

​@portland555 did ovo fit the smart meter?

Like you say some suppliers will install a meter over 6ft as your neighbour has found

There are loads of meters over front doors, there are streets all over the country where this is common. I seem to remember this question coming up before on the forum and one of the ovo engineers posted a comment about ovo being able to change them if they knew in advance. I may be mistaken as I haven't posted for some time. Perhaps one of the ovo engineers could post something?

The maximum height for a regular appointment seems to vary by supplier. For example this is EON Next. So you could always switch supplier even if temporarily to get the meter installed. Always best to let the supplier know obviously given your experience.

To be fair, ovo requested we provide a scaffold platform to do the job, but we saw that as unreasonable for us to arrange and pay for that. We have since had an electrician do a full consumer unit replacement on a step ladder with no issues.

Next door were with Utility Warehouse and I think they were reluctant to change their meter, but were persuaded into it somehow by the property owner!

I might try speaking to another supplier and offer to switch to them on the condition they install the meters.

A ‘one man band’, which many independent electricians are, can use their own discretion on whether working at height from a ladder is safe or not.

However a company has a duty of care to their employees, and so can sometimes tend to go over the top a bit where Health and Safety is concerned.

(That’s why your local decorator may happily paint upper storey window frames and gutters from a ladder, whereas a larger company will have scaffolding put up, for their employees safety).

If you do let the energy company know in advance that the meter is at a height then (if it’s not above their risk-assessed working height limit) they can ensure that the engineer has a stable work platform on his van to be able to access it safely.
But I don’t believe that they carry them routinely, they are usually not needed.
Something like this is often sufficient:
 

Suggesting that a customer has scaffolding put up (at their own expense) does seem a bit OTT, unless the meter is very high up any scaffolding would only need to be platform height anyway.

​@portland555 Just going to query this further for you as it doesnt feel necessarily right that this cannot be done for you. On this point, I want to lean towards ​@Jeffus and say it’s something we dig into a little further!

Off the back of ​@Ben_OVO’s comment - it’s likely that we’ll just have to make the meter exchange appointment set up clear so an engineer knows what to expect when attending the property.

But, for clarity I’m just going to chase this up with one of our experts who works out in the field - Once I hear back, I’ll let you know!

Thanks ​@Bradley_OVO . I chatted with Eon Energy online - they said I would have to switch to them first before they could check if they could fit a meter.

Any resolution would be good - I don’t even mind paying £50 or so for the installer to rent the platform, but I’m not going to ring up a building supplier or whoever and arrange it all myself as I don’t have the necessary knowledge (or the time).

We are looking to rent the property out in the future, and I don’t really want tenants to be climbing ladders to take meter readings!

Hehehe, that’s where our magic tricks come in. We’ve been talking about this between ourselves backstage… And we know exactly who we’re going to ask for expert advice.

We’ll keep you posted!

LOL, the one I posted an image of can be bought outright for £88 at Screwfix.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/werner-aluminium-600mm-x-0-6m-folding-work-platform/762jl

Others (not as wide) are available for under £50, eg. https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-aluminium-470mm-x-0-6m-folding-work-platform/5892p

However even if you bought your own (and they can be handy to have) then a company employee may not be allowed to use it - after all, it’s yours and so hasn’t been safety checked/approved by his/her company.

You would need to be standing about 4 feet up I reckon to work comfortably.

Hey all!

​@portland555 is it possible to have a photo from the front door looking in and a photo of the cupboard open showing all of the metering equipment and consumer units etc.

Thank you!

Our meter is on the left side and our consumer unit is on the right side (go figure...)

It looks a bit close to the stars to get much of a platform in there. (and we can see why scaffolding was a daft suggestion, perhaps they though it was outdoors?).

Luke is the expert here so will know what is possible in such situations.

Edit, that was a typo, but I’ll leave it there for a laugh - stairs

I guess they meant something like this.

Yes, stair platforms are a bit more expensive than the simple one that I posted, and the meter engineers definitely won’t carry those round all the time.

ok, so what is the way forward? If an engineer can specifiy PRECISELY what is needed, ideally with a link to a local rental centre in the Weymouth area, I can arrange to get one for the day.

History: They did come and survey it last time (18 months ago?) they were scheduled to attempt the job, but did not specify what they needed precisely enough.

I would also need someone to work some magic to unblock my address and allow me to request the fitting again.

Hi ​@portland555 

Thanks for sending in the photos. ​@Lukepeniket_OVO will be able to shed some light on whether or not the job is something our engineers can do. If he does give the green light, we’ll easily be able to unblock the address so that the appointment can be carried out.

When my DNO came to do a job they asked me to video the route from the road to the meter/fuse. 

​@portland555 could you provide a height to the bottom of the cupboard from the step/finished floor level, width of the stair case also?

Im on with our Safety Team to try and find a solution

​@Lukepeniket_OVO 

Floor to bottom of cupboard: 2.45m

Stair case width: 0.93m

Note that there are hand rails both sides down the stairs that restrict the width at waist height to about 0.75m

Hope that helps!