Just bought a plot...now shitting it!

[ToughButterCup]

4 minutes ago, Coops said:

Conor, what's a temporary site kiosk actually look like? 

They should give you a design. Once you have seen one you will notice them all over the place. 

[Jeremy Harris]

36 minutes ago, Coops said:

Conor, what's a temporary site kiosk actually look like? Will they insist on one of those metal enclosures like BT use bolted down to a concrete slab or can it be something a little bit more primative (and cheaper?)

 

 

All that's needed is an approved meter box, mounted where you want it, and where it can be accessed by meter readers, etc.  This company sell a wide range of them: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/

 

We used a standard in-wall mounting one, and fitted it into a double sided timber fence, that was later going to become our mandatory wheelie bin screening fence (not allowed to have the things on show here...).  The box I used was this one: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/uk-standard-electric-meter-box-recessed-595x409x210mm.html but there are surface mount ones as well as kiosks that will fit on a concrete pedestal.

[Coops]

20 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

 

All that's needed is an approved meter box, mounted where you want it, and where it can be accessed by meter readers, etc.  This company sell a wide range of them: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/

 

We used a standard in-wall mounting one, and fitted it into a double sided timber fence, that was later going to become our mandatory wheelie bin screening fence (not allowed to have the things on show here...).  The box I used was this one: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/uk-standard-electric-meter-box-recessed-595x409x210mm.html but there are surface mount ones as well as kiosks that will fit on a concrete pedestal.

Spot on! thanks again Jeremy

[Conor]

1 hour ago, Coops said:

Conor, what's a temporary site kiosk actually look like? Will they insist on one of those metal enclosures like BT use bolted down to a concrete slab or can it be something a little bit more primative (and cheaper?)

Depends on your supplier. In my case, it's a 600x600x1200mm concrete block box on a 100mm concrete slab with earth rod, 110mm duct etc. I'm building mine myself so only about £50 in materials. They also accept a standard meter box built in to a cavity wall.

[Bitpipe]

4 hours ago, Coops said:

Conor, what's a temporary site kiosk actually look like? Will they insist on one of those metal enclosures like BT use bolted down to a concrete slab or can it be something a little bit more primative (and cheaper?)

Oh no - you’ve unleashed the ‘reader’s kiosk’ genie again. Took forever to get it back in the bottle last time....

[Danny68]

7 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

 

All that's needed is an approved meter box, mounted where you want it, and where it can be accessed by meter readers, etc.  This company sell a wide range of them: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/

 

We used a standard in-wall mounting one, and fitted it into a double sided timber fence, that was later going to become our mandatory wheelie bin screening fence (not allowed to have the things on show here...).  The box I used was this one: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/uk-standard-electric-meter-box-recessed-595x409x210mm.html but there are surface mount ones as well as kiosks that will fit on a concrete pedestal.

Jeremy  did you get the sparks to leave you excess cable to re-route when you put in your permanent supply .

 

[joth]

14 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

 

All that's needed is an approved meter box, mounted where you want it, and where it can be accessed by meter readers, etc.  This company sell a wide range of them: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/

 

We used a standard in-wall mounting one, and fitted it into a double sided timber fence, that was later going to become our mandatory wheelie bin screening fence (not allowed to have the things on show here...).  The box I used was this one: https://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/uk-standard-electric-meter-box-recessed-595x409x210mm.html but there are surface mount ones as well as kiosks that will fit on a concrete pedestal.

 

I feel like I'm asking a really stupid question now, but what are the requirements for weather proofing these meter boxes if any? You mentioned you hung that one on a timber fence, and I can see holes all down the side of the box, so can easily imagine ways that rain could blow right in there. 

 

The idea of putting a surface mount version of this on a fence/post until our EWI is installed then lifting it over onto the house wall is quite appealing, but when the DNO chap visited he only mentioned the concrete standing kiosk as the only temporary site solution they offered, and I didn't think to enquire about this as a temp-to-perm alternative. 

[Jeremy Harris]

7 hours ago, Danny68 said:

Jeremy  did you get the sparks to leave you excess cable to re-route when you put in your permanent supply .

 

 

 

No, as the box is still in the same place now as it was when installed.  I knew that we needed to have a small screening fence to hide the wheelie bins, so just had this put in when we were doing the ground works.  I fixed a caravan site box, with a 16 A commando outlet, on the fence below the meter box and used that as the site supply (the caravan box is weathertight and has the required RCBO etc for a site supply, as caravan sites have to follow the same regs).

 

9 minutes ago, joth said:

 

I feel like I'm asking a really stupid question now, but what are the requirements for weather proofing these meter boxes if any? You mentioned you hung that one on a timber fence, and I can see holes all down the side of the box, so can easily imagine ways that rain could blow right in there. 

 

The idea of putting a surface mount version of this on a fence/post until our EWI is installed then lifting it over onto the house wall is quite appealing, but when the DNO chap visited he only mentioned the concrete standing kiosk as the only temporary site solution they offered, and I didn't think to enquire about this as a temp-to-perm alternative. 

 

I made the fence deep enough to take the box, and panelled it on both sides.  I fixed timbers to go down the sides of the box, so that I had something to screw it to, and fitted blanking plugs in the couple of unused cable holes (with a bit of sealant around them for good measure).  I also added a "roof" across the top of this fence.  This is the front view of that fence, the meter box is let in to flush vertical planking on the other side:

 

[joth]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Harris said:

I also added a "roof" across the top of this fence.

Got it. So more "apprentice shed" than fence.

This maybe exactly what we do, right down to the bin (and ASHP) hiding. 

[Jeremy Harris]

Just been out and taken a photo of the meter box side:

 

 

The caravan box we used as a temporary site supply, with it's 16 A commando is still there.  The small grey box is because Openreach originally insisted that their underground cable had to terminate outside the house - by the time they came to install it their rules had changed and they would have preferred to bring it into the house (too late, the duct was sealed up!).

 

The old key safe we put in to give contractors access to the house keys is still there, but no longer used.  The silver box is my energy/power measurement system, that transmits data by RF link to the house, and also transmits the on and off signals to the Sunamp heater (for excess PV generation Sunamp charging).

[Coops]

6 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

Just been out and taken a photo of the meter box side:

 

 

The caravan box we used as a temporary site supply, with it's 16 A commando is still there.  The small grey box is because Openreach originally insisted that their underground cable had to terminate outside the house - by the time they came to install it their rules had changed and they would have preferred to bring it into the house (too late, the duct was sealed up!).

 

The old key safe we put in to give contractors access to the house keys is still there, but no longer used.  The silver box is my energy/power measurement system, that transmits data by RF link to the house, and also transmits the on and off signals to the Sunamp heater (for excess PV generation Sunamp charging).

That's really useful, thanks for posting 

[Danny68]

Again thanks , neat and effective even down to the key safe .

[Jeremy Harris]

36 minutes ago, Danny68 said:

Again thanks , neat and effective even down to the key safe .

 

The key safe was really useful, as was having a combination padlock on the Heras fencing gate into the site.  It meant I could let contractors have the combinations and didn't need to worry about having to be on site at the crack of dawn every day.  As each contractor finished their work on site, I just changed the combinations for the next ones due in.  Probably not foolproof, and I did advise contractors to not leave any tools on site (and had a notice up on the fencing saying this), but it seemed a fairly good way of keeping the place reasonably secure, yet still allowing easy access.  It also meant I could just give someone the combination over the 'phone if they needed to get into the site to make a delivery.

[Coops]

On 03/12/2019 at 14:02, Jeremy Harris said:

Welcome.  Check, and double check, that the utilities will actually be able to provide services at a reasonable price.  When we first saw our plot, it was advertised as having outline PP and "services available".  Electricity and a telephone connection weren't too much of a problem, around £3.5k.  However, a water connection was going to be ~£24k and a mains sewerage connection was going to be another ~£14k, plus the cost of the pump and pump chamber.

 

The fact that our neighbours all have mains water and sewerage, and none have a pumped system, was neither here nor there.  The vagaries of the way the water company work meant that we were going to be faced with a massive bill if we wanted their services.  In the end we had a borehole drilled for water and installed a treatment plant for sewage, at a total cost of ~ 1/3rd of that for getting connections from the water company.

 

Did I mention checking with the utilities? ?

Aye up Jeremy and all

 

Got the electric sorted, luckily for me the EP is in good order, just inside my plot and doesn't need moving for the build to commence, they (Western Power) quoted me £650 for a permanent supply to a kiosk...that's one of my nine lives gone...Next thing is water, how the hell do I get temporary water into the site? Is it just a case of contacting the water supplier (Welsh water in my case) and asking for a quote?

 

 

[Conor]

17 minutes ago, Coops said:

Aye up Jeremy and all

 

Got the electric sorted, luckily for me the EP is in good order, just inside my plot and doesn't need moving for the build to commence, they (Western Power) quoted me £650 for a permanent supply to a kiosk...that's one of my nine lives gone...Next thing is water, how the hell do I get temporary water into the site? Is it just a case of contacting the water supplier (Welsh water in my case) and asking for a quote?

 

 

Yep. Put in a new connection application. Mention that it's a site and ask them to install the boundary box with a 2m tail coming out of it so you can connect up your site supply. They may have some other requirements. You can never start these things too soon.

[Coops]

5 minutes ago, Conor said:

Yep. Put in a new connection application. Mention that it's a site and ask them to install the boundary box with a 2m tail coming out of it so you can connect up your site supply. They may have some other requirements. You can never start these things too soon.

Thanks Conor, take your point about getting things sorted early, although trying to tread a bit tentatively as I don't actually own the plot yet.