Evidence is emerging that some Warner flats have wiring that’s old and unsafe.
We know of two situations, one in Mersey Road, and one in Edward Rd, where one supply feeds four flats – none of which is adequately earthed. We also received a worrying email about an electrical fire in Howard Road at the end of last year.
Fortunately the smoke alarms went off and the fire brigade came promptly. On this occasion “According to the resident downstairs, initially the national grid people said we’d need to pay a local electrician to get it sorted but lots of their reps turned up the next day and the electrics were untangled at their cost and new safe fuses etc were fitted downstairs.”
This highlights the ambiguity around who ‘owns’ the internal wiring. The lease usually states that maintenance is to be divided 50/50 between the ground and first floor flats, but it doesn’t address infrastructure that extends across four properties. Probably the power was installed after the leases were written.
We also know that in 2007 a resident managed to get an earthing problem fixed at the expense of the then distributor. But UK Power Networks have stated that since 2013 internal wiring is no longer their responsibility.
If you have any doubts about the the wiring in your Warner flat, it’s advisable to get an Electrical Condition Report. Triangle Electrical are working on the Mersey Road flats and offer a discounted Report at £220 + VAT for anyone wanting peace of mind about their own flat.
We have found that our electrical supply is fed from the ground floor flat and UK Power Networks claim that we are responsible for the cabling between downstairs and our meter. They have advised that his section needs upgrading since the earth loop impedance is very high. Has anyone had to make a similar upgrade and could offer some advice? Thanks, Joe
Hi Joe,
Yes this happened to me! To complicate matters our flats were set up with a main supply to one flat, and 3 smaller feeds coming off to feed the adjacent ground floor flat and the two first floor flats. Each had a supply of 30Amps which is not really adequate for a modern household. One of the owners brought in Triangle Electrical and I have to say they were great! It was complicated as they needed access to each flat at different times but they managed it well, kept everyone informed about progress, and Edward, the director came round to check all the work before completion. Their website is http://triangleelectrical.com.