Mains Isolator Switch Advice

[bee123]

Hi there,
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

(Note, this is not a DIY, I'm using a fully qualified electrician, just posting here looking for advice)

We need a new fuse board fitted in a property I manage, which we hope to use for short term lets in the near future (Air BnB etc)
We were advised by our previous electrician that we needed to have a Mains Isolator Switch fitted to do this, so we contacted our energy supplier to organise this.

We ending up changing electricians throughout the process as the original got a long-term illness and had to cancel the job. Anyway, our energy supplier turned out to be terrible at organising this (which I hear isn't uncommon), and didn't show up to several appointments over a period of months to fit the Isolator Switch.

Our new electrician was working on some other bits and bobs in the house in the meantime, out with the fuse board fitting. It seems he got impatient with how long this was taking and let us know that he had gone ahead and replaced the fuse board without the switch (we didn't realise this was possible, we were under the impression you NEEDED an isolator switch to fit a new fuse board)...

So now we have the new fuse board, but also have an up-coming rescheduled appointment with our energy provider to fit the switch... the question is, do we still need this appointment to have it fitted? And are we likely to run into any trouble because he's fitted it without the switch? (We specifically let him know we wanted to do things above board, particularly as we need to apply for licensing etc to do short term lets...)

Any guidance on this would be very welcomed!
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read

 

[Marvo]

I'd suggest an isolator whilst not being essential would be a great thing to have and to be honest I don't know why the DNO's don't fit them as standard. The guy who replaced the consumer unit would have either pulled the supply fuse or maybe but hopefully not, worked with the supply still live. Pulling the fuse is always a contentious issue and I believe some DNO's allow it whilst others get quite emotional. If you can give some indication of what area you're in I'm sure the guys here that are based in the UK will give you more info.

 

[bee123]

I'd suggest an isolator whilst not being essential would be a great thing to have and to be honest I don't know why the DNO's don't fit them as standard. The guy who replaced the consumer unit would have either pulled the supply fuse or maybe but hopefully not, worked with the supply still live. Pulling the fuse is always a contentious issue and I believe some DNO's allow it whilst others get quite emotional. If you can give some indication of what area you're in I'm sure the guys here that are based in the UK will give you more info.

Thanks so much for your response and advice! I'm in Midlothian

 

[brianmoooore]

If you're getting the isolator for free, then go ahead. If you're paying, don't bother.
Nothing is going to happen regarding your electricians activities, even if it was illegal. The DNO isn't going to do anything that brings to public attention how utterly useless their service is.
I once climbed a pole, chopped off the wires, removed the service cable, cut out and meter and packed the whole lot in a large cardboard box, after the DNO had missed appointments to remove it all.
When they found out they were going to have me imprisoned in the Tower of London, followed by being hung, drawn and quartered, but never heard another thing, of course.

 

[mainline]

When they found out they were going to have me imprisoned in the Tower of London, followed by being hung, drawn and quartered, but never heard another thing, of course.

They would have if the budget allowed for it.

 

[bee123]

If you're getting the isolator for free, then go ahead. If you're paying, don't bother.
Nothing is going to happen regarding your electricians activities, even if it was illegal. The DNO isn't going to do anything that brings to public attention how utterly useless their service is.
I once climbed a pole, chopped off the wires, removed the service cable, cut out and meter and packed the whole lot in a large cardboard box, after the DNO had missed appointments to remove it all.
When they found out they were going to have me imprisoned in the Tower of London, followed by being hung, drawn and quartered, but never heard another thing, of course.

Hahaha, thanks so much for your response! Unfortunatley they want to charge a crazy amount for it, £160!!! Really appreciate your advice!

 

[littlespark]

I wonder why the electrician didn’t just fit one at the time of the board change.

 

[brianmoooore]

If he'd fitted one, you can be certain that the DNO would've turned up the next day, and with their automaton mentality, we would now have two isolators connected in series.

 

[mainline]

If he'd fitted one, you can be certain that the DNO would've turned up the next day, and with their automaton mentality, we would now have two isolators connected in series.

I replaced a CU a few months ago along with isolator.

Along comes Mr Eon meter man to fit a smart meter told the customer that he has to replace the isolator with an Eon one as the Wylex one isn't compliant as the regs have changed.

He ran off with the Wylex one though customer has complained.