Don D

Hi - our supplier, National Grid, is moving our existing power supply from overhead to a new underground cable and an external surface mounted box. We have to run the tails from there into the house and our existing consumer unit. We are engaging an electrician to do this part. Can someone please confirm the depth the cable needs to be at and what type of conduit to use. I have had conflicting advice. Thank you.

Lovely job; NG have since said the same! Thanks for the info.

Having got National Grid to agree to underground our supply to a new external meter box, location tbc, we contacted an electrician to quote for connecting the "tails" from there back to our existing CU. Our chosen location is approx. 10m from the CU. The electrician came back and said the maximum length allowed for tails is 3m which practically rules out an external box and would mean reconnecting to the original meter box within the house. Can anyone please confirm this 3 metre max. is correct and if so, is there is a way around we could look at which would allow an external box?? Essentially we might be demolishing the house and would like to avoid needing NG services at that point and need only to employ our own electrician. In the meantime I'm waiting on a second opinion from another electrician😀 Thank you

Thought I'd post a short update on this. We submitted an "Alteration of Service" form on the NG website and emphasized the safety angle, i.e. the overhead line is within my jumping distance!! The NG "Planner" followed it up promptly and visited yesterday; without much prompting on my part he said it was a defect that they will now correct by undergrounding the 20 or so metres from the pole in our neighbours property to a new external meter box that we'd organise. Our neighbour has been supportive up until now so hopefully that continues. NG will do the trenchwork and organise the wayleave details. There are guidelines for height of cables above private driveways, but he didn't specify what they were, so I'd still like to know if anyone has that detail? We're waiting to get something detailed in writing now, but it seems to be going well currently.. I probably shouldn't tempt fate! Cheers.

Thanks for the replies; I'll report back on how it goes with National Grid. Cheers

The photos - showing l to r, cables over our drive, attachment to metal bracket on the bungalow and the cables coming off the neighbours pole.

Hi, We are looking for some advice on how to approach our energy provider, National Grid, regarding moving the existing overhead power supply to our house. We plan to demolish our current bungalow and replace it with a new building, which will largely be on the same footprint but probably be a 1.5 or 2 storey build. Ideally, we want the supply to go underground. The photos hopefully show the current arrangement, which is delivered from a 9m pole on our neighbour's property, across our drive and onto a short metal pole on the corner of our house. Ideally what we want is to be in as strong a position as possible in the conversation and wonder if there may be some leverage in the following factors:- The existing cables may well be too low** they are only 9ft above our drive at the lowest point A few years ago the previous supplier, Western Power, approached us under a Project which was looking to reduce overhead lines (that died a death and we never heard anything more) We would do the trench work and install a suitable external cabinet **we have not been able to find any guidance covering cables over a private drive, only the 1988 legislation which talks about "a road accessible to vehicular traffic" roads https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1057/part/IV/made Thanks for reading, Don

I'm joining the forum to look for support and advice on a range of issues but also hope to support and encourage others where possible. My wife and I are having another go at planning permission for a replacement house here in the Forest of Dean. We have a site and 1960s bungalow which has served its time. We need advice on utilities (electricity supply), demolition and many aspects of the replacement/rebuild which we want to have a low impact environmentally and to make the most from the site. Thanks in advance! Don