Am I obliged to notify anyone about a suspected illegal supply?

[sparkinlee]

Hello, I've been away from the forum for a while - found something today which I haven't seen before, but most likely someone here has!

I went to isolate the downstairs lighting circuit in a house in order to change some switches, and found that neither of the 5A MCBs turned off the circuit - in fact none of the MCBs (even when all switched off together) turned off the lighting circuit. I removed the front of the Consumer Unit and the pictures show what I found.



In short, it appears that the read live tail from the meter has been connected to the top of the lighting MCB (hence the circuit could not be turned off) and an additional brown live meter tail appears up the trunking apparently from under the floor.

I explained to the householder that, apart from what seems a likely illegal arrangement, this is dangerous because turning off the main switch will stop everything working as the neutral is disconnected, but the entire installation will still be live, back fed from via the lighting MCB.

It was the end of the afternoon and he wanted me to put the front back on and advise him in writing what is necessary and likely costs.

Apart from investigating further to find the source of the brown live tail, am I under an obligation to report this to the supply co.?

 

[Richard Burns]

The installation would not be able to operate if the sole live supply was through the lighting circuit breaker as this breaker would trip if it was carrying the house current.
I am assuming that the brown tail is live with respect to earth when the main switch is off, which would indicate another incoming supply (presumably not metered and so illegal)
Theoretically the total current would be supplied from both locations so this would likely trip the breaker anyway so something else is wrong, perhaps the lighting circuit breaker is non functional.
Unless you can trace that the brown tail is coming from an un metered supply then you only have a dangerous and inappropriate installation.
I do not believe it is necessary, though perhaps it is morally correct, to report an illegal activity and in this case you only have the potential for illegal activity.

 

[sparkinlee]

The installation would not be able to operate if the sole live supply was through the lighting circuit breaker as this breaker would trip if it was carrying the house current.
I am assuming that the brown tail is live with respect to earth when the main switch is off, which would indicate another incoming supply (presumably not metered and so illegal)
Theoretically the total current would be supplied from both locations so this would likely trip the breaker anyway so something else is wrong, perhaps the lighting circuit breaker is non functional.
Unless you can trace that the brown tail is coming from an un metered supply then you only have a dangerous and inappropriate installation.
I do not believe it is necessary, though perhaps it is morally correct, to report an illegal activity and in this case you only have the potential for illegal activity.

Thanks - yes the brown tail is live wrt earth when the main switch is off. And yes, potentially there is something odd about the lighting breaker, as it did not appear to be tripped when I arrived, so perhaps it's given up under the strain.

I have advised by email that the installation is dangerous and strongly recommended further investigation, so I'll wait to see if they want me back.

 

[sparkinlee]

Interestingly, the householder told me he'd lived in the house since 2000 and I see that the new colours came in around 2004 for fixed wiring. So, maybe he's knows more about it than he's letting on!