RTS meter change stopped due to asbestos

I'm sure that someone more up to date with the RTS stuff will be along soon.

That meter cupboard looks very tidy.

However it seems to me that your current hiccup is that ‘Possible Asbestos’ flag.

We are seeing a few of them and as asbestos is a health hazard then it needs to be investigated.

If it is asbestos then it gets very complicated about who can do what and in what order things need to be done.

The DNO, the supplier, and the customer are all reponsible for different bits, so it's mainly getting the timings organised so it all happens together.

If there is no asbestos then things can get back on normal schedule again (which is complicated enough for most without extra hassle).

Is it obvious that the backboard contains asbestos? It could be that the meter engineer only had a suspicion that it does, but that’s reason enough for him to abort the job. It takes a specially-trained technician to be sure.

SSEN will have such a technician, so that’s a good place to start: 0800 048 3516 (Option 3) or ge@ssen.co.uk. DNOs are variously helpful in situations like this, so turn on the charm if necessary. 

What happens next depends on what transpires from the DNO’s site inspection, assuming they agree to do it. Even if they do, it may not be free.

I would have thought that by 1992 asbestos wouldn’t have been in use in a new installation. However, the board is white/cream and clearly not wood. It does have an appearance of some sort of composite, so maybe asbestos (not that I have any real experience of such).

Any idea what the OVO technician would have done on finding what they believed to be asbestos? I wish I knew what form they had given mother-in-law for the leaseholder and whether it would have gone back to OVO or SSEN. I would ask the apartment manager but they have just quit. Mother-in-law does not recollect (she is over 90 and has now gone into care). I would see if any other residents have had problems, but since I live an hour drive (each way) from the apartment, I can’t arrange that at the moment.

It helps knowing that SSEN have the asbestos handling knowledge so maybe it is sensible for me to talk to them next. I take on board the suggestion about charm.

We see this sort of problem every so often. Sometimes it turns out to be a false alarm, but we’ve also seen customers jumping through all the hoops that are erected by the division of labour (DNOs can’t touch suppliers’ equipment, and vice versa, and the backboard itself is the customer’s headache).  I wonder if there’s perhaps been a major problem recently when an untrained engineer did some work on an asbestos backboard that he hadn’t recognized as such. HSE would have been down on his employer like a ton of bricks if they’d found out, so to avoid that, it may be that OVO now requires certification from an expert that there’s no asbestos danger before going ahead with works. That has certainly happened once that I know of. 

White asbestos was banned in 1999.

So i wonder if that board was added at the same time as that meter post 1999 or whether the board was checked when that meter was installed.

Do you know if other residents have had the same issues?

I may be able to get up there next week and see if I can talk to any of the residents. In the mean time, I have spoken to the relief building manager and he is seeing what he can find out from the management company.

If anyone from OVO are watching this thread…is there any way to find out what form the OVO technician left with mother-in-law when the asbestos was found? Unfortunately, I never saw it. They wanted her to pass it to the leaseholder to authorise work, which she did. Has that form come back to OVO and may it have started any balls rolling in the background?

Hey ​@HairyMutley, 

We’re primarily a customer to customer support forum we don’t have access to accounts here. If your mother-in-law is the account holder or you’re named on the account then you can contact our Support Team and they can chase this up for you. 

I asked regarding the forms left behind and a Safety Advisory notice (with a unique reference number on the lower left corner) and a Landlords letter are the 2 forms left after the engineer has carried out the inspection. Any other questions let us know and we’ll try and get you the advice you need! 

​@HairyMutley Hey bud!! Yes ive shared the forms with our internal teams but basically we’ve left a Safety Advisory Notice (SAN) and a Landlords letter. 

The SAN contains information as to why we couldnt do the install (potential ACM)

The Landlords letter is just to make them aware we’ve handed the customer a SAN but doesn’t have the exact reason on there.

Ill do some digging to see if the work can be done so leave with me for now

Thanks for the updates.

​@Chris_OVO , I may go back to the support team, but it is because of them that I am here in the first place; they said that there was nothing that they could do and that I needed to get it sorted out.
Similarly, when I spoke to SSEN ( ​@Firedog ), they said they didn't have anyone that could help with asbestos and that I would have to arrange getting it sorted.
In the mean time, I hope to get to the property tomorrow. It will give me a chance to see whether other residents have had to deal with similar issues ( ​@Jeffus ). Likewise a chance to corner the house manager who hasn't come back to me yet.
Maybe with that and anything that ​@Lukepeniket_OVO  can find it will be possible to see how to proceed.

edited to fix @ references

So, we do have teams internally that should be able to do the asbestos work. Ill get a marker put on the account, itll be added to the asbestos list that we have!!

​@Lukepeniket_OVO OK, that sounds like there is nothing that I can or should do at the moment. Thanks.

How will an appointment be booked?
Will I get a direct contact from the installation team because of the asbestos.

OR

Should I be responding to a email invite from OVO? I have just received one asking me to book an appointment because “We’re getting in touch again to remind you that your electricity meter needs replacing. Its certificate has run out, so it may not be measuring your energy use accurately.”

I think someone will be in touch with you directly. I’ll get that checked though - bear with me.

Hey ​@HairyMutley 

I’ve forwarded your reply on to Luke for some further advice as it sounds like the meter you have is coming to the end of it’s certification and would be in need or a replacement soon for that reason too, regardless of the RTS situation. 

• Meter Certification - What you need to know! Tutorial

Let’s hold out and see what ​@Lukepeniket_OVO might be able to advise. 

I’m sorry you’re facing such a tricky situations with this.

Hello,

This will be picked up via an internal ticketing system and our planners will be in contact to book in the job. We are getting some lovely new respirators to conduct asbestos work!

Thanks everyone for the interest and update; ​@Blastoise186 ​@Abby_OVO ​@Lukepeniket_OVO