Why do people get away with meter tails longer than 3 meters

[Sambo2891]

On a new build site how/ why are people getting away with installing meter tails over 3metres in length and behind dot and dabbed walls with no other fused iso's/ or protection on the cables.

Personally I use 25mm² swa and a fused isolator.

Just want people thoughts??

 

[davesparks]

They get away with it because nobody checks their work and they are certifying their own work so they just lie on the paperwork.

On some new build sites there is a focus on speed and cheapness rather than doing the job well.

There is also confirmation bias at work, we get to see a lot more of the bad installs because they are the ones that need another electrician called out to fix them.
Customers are also far more likely to be using the good installers for future work.

 

[oscar21]

Houses nowadays aren't designed for the services that need to go in them, they all have meter boxes outside but they are always in stupid places where you can't fit the consumer unit back to back with them. Halfthe time there aren't even any cupboards to locate a fuse box.

I looked at wiring a block of new build flats the other year, it was a strange building with all sorts of weird angles, shapes and sizes. I said where is the service duct for all the supplies to each flat, water, electric, phones etc? The site agent just gave me a blank look and said what do you mean. I didn't do the job.

 

[Dustydazzler]

As above , I worked on some Flats just before Covid. It was some old office blocks converted into one and two bed flats.
I actually didn't do any of the 1st fix but took on some 2nd fix on price. The meters were all white boxes in a row chopped into the front wall which looked gash if you ask me. The tails disappeared up in and around the fabric of the building. there was a coil in the meter box and a coil above the front door inside each flat. I reckon best case 10 metres to reach the ground floor flats but way over 20 metres to get upstairs.
I said at the time to the main electrical contractor are you happy the tails like that. He said Yup....

 

[James]

Let’s not get hung up on this, remember a lot of the time you have a dno service fuse of 80A
you put in a switched fused isolator anywhere between 60 and 100A
is a 6m tail much or any more dangerous than a 3m one?

 

[Dustydazzler]

Let’s not get hung up on this, remember a lot of the time you have a dno service fuse of 80A
you put in a switched fused isolator anywhere between 60 and 100A
is a 6m tail much or any more dangerous than a 3m one?

Its not so much the lenghth but more how they are run through the building ? In new builds they are most likely pulled through a hole or notch in the ceilings / stud walls just below the plaster.

 

[nicebutdim]

Its not so much the lenghth but more how they are run through the building ? In new builds they are most likely pulled through a hole or notch in the ceilings / stud walls just below the plaster.

This is where I question the argument about switchfuses.

It seems many would find 2.9m tails acceptable if pulled right above ceiling/ under floors and there'll be little difference between 60 and 100A fuse protection if they're accidentally found by a drill.

 

[davesparks]

Let’s not get hung up on this, remember a lot of the time you have a dno service fuse of 80A
you put in a switched fused isolator anywhere between 60 and 100A
is a 6m tail much or any more dangerous than a 3m one?

If the tails are buried in the wall, at any length, they need solid protection against damage or RCD protection.

If someone is choosing to ignore one rule (the 3m thing) then they are likely to have ignored this rule too.