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Question

smart meter installation , no backboard


 The meters and the fuse in my house are currently screwed directly onto the  wooden panels that line the  inside a cuboard built into the wall .  Its an old 1900’s stone built property. this has been the fitting  arangement since installation of the electricity supply and originl black meter  in 1950.  Since then SSE,  as the retai supplyier at that time, has installed an  off peak  meter  in the 70’s for  storage heaters,  and a check meter in 2019, both screwed by them  directly onto the  wall panels, same as the fuse and original meter,  ie without a  back board, and seemingly not an issue as far as they were concerned.

I am now trying to arrange for OVO to fit a SMART meter. They can come next week However they say a  back board  is essential , but theyalso  say they will not fit  one  and to peak to the DNO IE SSE.

I have done so , and they say they will send someone to fit a piece of  backboard behind their  incoming fuse, but that it.

So now seem to be in a catch 22, because as far as i  am aware  nobody else is supposed to unscrew meters except them. Or am wrong here? Can i buy a backboard and try to find an electrician, not easy and unlikely  at short notice , to unscrew them, fit the board , and put the meters back on ? Then get OVO to come along at a later date to take them off again and fit the new meter.

Alternatively,when the OVO fitter arrives , what if I get  him to remove his  old meters ,  and he goes for a coffee break while  I screw on the backboard? Then he can  install theSMART  meter ?

Ant thoughts?

 

5 replies

Blastoise186
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  • March 14, 2025

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.


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  • 1 reply
  • March 14, 2025

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


Blastoise186
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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.


Blastoise186
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Blastoise186
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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


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