I'm not sure if these notes about temporary building site supplies are rules or simply ESB's guidelines, but there are a couple of variations here:
Temporary Supplies and Portable Electrical Equipment:
5. All 400/230Volt supply leads must be screened, kept short and must be protected with an RCD.
No requirement for screened cables here, nor for RCD protection on feeders.
7. Hand lamps must not exceed 25Volts AC.
No such restriction here. 110V lamps are common.
Further on:
As part of the terms for connection, the developer is required to:
· Ensure the legal transfer of the site title to ESB free of charge in accordance with the provisions of Form H1., and ensure the substation site is not included in the sale to
house purchaser.
So ESB gets land for free?
I know that if ESB had to pay proper market values for the land it would undoubtedly increase utility costs overall, but I still don't like the basic idea that it's a case of "give us the land, or no power."
The developer is required to:
· Provide and install an ESB approved outdoor meter cabinet, which must be continuously accessible to ESB and unobstructed by side gates. The cabinet must be installed
within two metres of the front line of the house and must be installed at a height of between 1 metre and 1.2 metres above finished ground level.
The current EDF rules here say that new meter cabinets must be installed on the front or side of the house, not be behind locked gates etc., but there is no distance limit back from the front line of the house.
I just did the new connections for a moved service on a nearby house with the cabinet installed on the side wall about 30 ft. back from the front line.
3. All new installations require a completion certificate.
They're not the slightest bit worried about that around here. The general approach nowadays is "once it leaves the meter, it's your responsibility."
I understand that in some areas of the country it's now standard practice to fit an isolator at the meter on all new installs, but again, they don't do it around here.
We have the extra problem of multiple supply companies and slightly crossing demarcation of responsibility to contend with. EDF is responsible for everything up to the main fuse/cutout, then it's up to your chosen supplier to have the metering installed and connected (which in most cases is subcontracted to Siemens metering). But EDF will still disconnect, move, and reconnect meters when it becomes a necessary part of moving a service to an existing building.
For completely new houses though, it's a case of EDF fitting everything up to the cutout and the supplier/Siemens coming along afterward to fit a meter and connect. The application forms for a new service now ask for supplier you plan to use.
