Howdy ​@jaymac ,

Thanks for asking this one! Please bear with us as I this may take some thinking to figure this one out.

But personally, I’d say you’re better off having the DNO Engineer AND the OVO Engineer attend at the same time, as between them, in theory they’d be able to pull all of the equipment (except the consumer unit) off the wall, give you a chance to get the backboard fitted while they take a break and then carry on with the respective jobs afterwards.

Please do not ask anyone else other than OVO and your DNO to remove equipment from the wall - only they are legally authorised to do so for their respective elements.

Please purchase the backboard now and have that ready since you’ll want that before anyone shows up anyway. They’re pretty cheap to buy at builders merchants and don’t take much effort to install.  You’ll want to have a qualified electrician put the backboard up. It doesn’t usually take very long so shouldn’t cause much in the way of disruption.

Bit of a tip - it’s recommended to buy a bigger board than you think you need! That way, it can simply be cut down to size for a perfect fit without having to buy another one. :)

If you can get all the right people to attend at the same time, this shouldn’t be too tricky if memory serves.

Hi Blastoise, thanks for your quick reply and helpful advice. 

I won't be able to get an electrician by next Friday  

Any particular reason why I cannot screw on the backboard myself?

 I can leave  the consumer/fusebox as it is for now , as its my responsibility anyway., and will be getting a new one later in the year

Mostly safety/legal stuff I’m afraid. I don’t recall anyone who isn’t a qualified electrician ever doing the backboard install themselves.

Admittedly, it does sound easy but you run the risk of being held liable if you did it wrong.

IMO SSEN are perfectly capable of making this easier for you, I’m curious why they’re saying they won’t just put the entire board up if you supply one.

Bloop!

https://www.ssen.co.uk/our-services/existing-electricity-supplies/meter-board-replacement/

I rest my case.

Ok. Just had a chat with SSEN - and this time I got through to a rockstar agent who thinks he can help you out (you know who you are - THANK YOU!!!).

I’m gonna send you a PM in a second with some info that should help unblock this. Please keep an eye out for it here: https://forum.ovoenergy.com/inbox/overview

hello Blastoise, you have been a great help with this . The issue has now been resolved satisfactorily.

Your SSEN contact was a great help also ,and ws expecting to hear from me whe I got in touch with  her. She spoke with the Area Engineer who actually visited later in the week whem I was out , but he then  phoned  me 

He was dismissive of any practical  need for a chipboard  back board as the solid wood panelling  behing the meters was perfectly sound , and much better than a rubbish piece of chipboard. SSEN was perfectly satisfied  that their fuse  had no backboard ,it was perfectly safe on the wooden panels  and  been so for 70 years! 

However he arranged for an engineer to call in on the smart meter fitting day (which he did) , just in  case  I was unfortunate enough  to get some over officious j*bsworth  g*t coming to fit the meter ,and demanding  a backboard be fitted  for everything before he could start.

Fortunately, the young technicia who came to do the fitting was not one of the above, he was very sensible , to one look, said  the job  was straightforward it would take him about an hour  ,and he  never mentioned anything bout backboards!  He was actually  excellent, a very efficient  ,tidy worker , who just got on with it without any fuss about anything.

The smart meter seems to be doing its job and all is ok

So Blastoise, thanks again  so much, for your help with the issue.