New Electicity Meters

[katy]

How does it work if someone buys a house from a seller who had presented a boletín say two years before?

[pigs-might-fly]

Makes you wonder why Sevillana bother when you see electricity cables festooned in great swathes along the front of whole streets.

[jennyshaw]

[/quote]
The requirement for a boletín and/or resiting of meter(s) is something that your surveyor will tell you in the survey report. I certainly do.
Don't rely on an estate agent for this sort of info.[/quote]

BUT,
what if you don't have a survey, is it that no-one tells you?

[spanish_lad]

of course the estate agent will not tell you, they just want to make the sale.

zanuk the meter does not effect the rating on the breakers, the meter can take in excess of 440V / 100A. the main fuses in the meter box determine how much power goes to your house, we normally fit 63A fuses, with the main breaker in the house being 40A.

katy if the bullatin is under 2 years old then the bullatin will be accepted. tecnically you could have a bullatin run out the day after you sign the contract .. and it'd be legal until you re-sell your house.

fearfulfred to make a meter accesable to a meter reader man we'd normally cut a hole in the fence, build a meter "stand" and fit the plastic meter box into that, with the metal door flush with the fence. the fence is then secured to the "walls" of the meter stand. its hard to explain but as i said i'll try and get a picture.


oh and if a meter box is fixed to a metal electricity pole.. thats now illegal...

Troglodyfae over charged?? no!! it was very cheap ! its alot cheaper than it would of been if it was done properly ... but then saying that its gonna cost u more now because it really shouldn't be joined in the ground, so it has to technically be started again. a double box at retail price is near on 200€ on its own, then the metal door is around 90€... to get it done properly would probably cost in the region of 700€.

you dont legally require armoured tubing from your box to the house... only from the bottom of the meter box to the ground / into the wall where from there it can be any tubing - the red tubing or the thicker (25mm) black tubing. they never check it unless they can see it.

if putting a new tube in the ground it has to be at least 40cm below ground and covered in yellow "tape" its like warning tape that says "danger, electrics below" or something.

the last re-wire "we" did, which included ALOT of chasing walls and tons and tons of dust cost in the region of 5000€, which was a 2 bed 1 bath finca. this was start to finish, up to modern spec, which passed bullatin instantly and was turned back on the day after the bullatin was shown.

[fearfulfred]

Spanish Lad
Here are two shots.





As you can see the box is also mounted on a metal pole..Too far inside the fence for him to read without coming in....
The worst of it all is the gates have a hole in them which would have been the right size to hold the original box! Going to see the people who changed the box next week. Will let you know how that goes
Fred

[campo babe]

Our electricity meter is fitted to a metal electricity pole situated in "our garden". Because we are on the cattle track we don't have a wall or fence. The box is a plastic one suitable for only one meter. The boletin was issued just over 4 years ago.

What happens now that the meter box is "illegal"?

I understood someone saying that after 5 years Sevillana take over the ownership of the electricity poles, is this true? What effect would this have?

It is ironic that we are one of the few people actually paying for their electricity in our neighbourhood. Some have been here for 3 years or more and don't pay anything.

[olive]

Has anyone heard of or fallen foul of the "new rule" that when you have a new meter you also have to have a new metal or concrete pole (for those unlucky enough to have wooden poles for electric distribution)? I.e the consumer is paying for the electric companies wooden pole replacement programme. Two of our neighbours have had new wells and had to pay for the installation of modern (ugly) pylons.

olive

[Troglodyfae]

Troglodyfae over charged?? no!! it was very cheap ! its alot cheaper than it would of been if it was done properly ... but then saying that its gonna cost u more now because it really shouldn't be joined in the ground, so it has to technically be started again. a double box at retail price is near on 200€ on its own, then the metal door is around 90€... to get it done properly would probably cost in the region of 700€.

It was not joined in the ground ! The existing cable was joined within the property and taken in the red armoured conduit across the patio in a trench and then into the wall of our apartment and then into the meter. Sevillana have been out and inspected the work a it was passed, we then had our supply upgraded. Surely if there had been any sort of problem they would have pointed this out when it was inspected ? Our electrician is a qualified Spanish electrician so I would have thought he would have got the job right. The meter and the box were brand new as the older meter was so old it was antique ! And it has provision for two meters and has a metal door on the front. Our Boletin is less than a year old.

I am not an electrician, so I cannot speak with any authority on this, just expect because it has been passed etc that all is in order

[spanish_lad]

Troglodyfae no no, you mis-understood my post. you'll now have to have it moved again, to the outside wall or whatever, so it cant be joined where it is now and "extended" as it were, they will have to take a new line to the fuse box and a new feed from the pole to the meter box, you get what i mean ?

The meter and the box were brand new as the older meter was so old it was antique ! And it has provision for two meters and has a metal door on the front. Our Boletin is less than a year old.

as long as it is the same as the one in fearful freds pic, and then has another metal door over it, thats ok.

olive hmm.. new rule... i've not heard of that one, the last bullatin we got must of been around 6 months ago, when a wooden pole was acceptable, the guy doing the bullitin also did the connection, so climed the pole to do it with some groovy spiky ring thing

campo babe nothing, until the bullatin "runs out", ie: when there is a change of ownership or you wish to upgrade the power coming into your house.

fearfulfred yeah that wouldn't pass now.. or shouldn't... maybe the guys who got it passed were friends of the builder lol ... this is spain, i'm not joking the box should not be ON the pole. the box should not be IN the garden. the box should have a metal door over it.

alot of builders are building the stands around the box thats still attached to the pole

[Miro]

Spanish Lad is correct if you change the contract name or the voltage you need a boletín if the house is over 5 years old. Have a look at
www.endesaonline.com there is an English section.

Thanks for the link, Katy. Took me a while to realise the English version has far less info than the Spanish, but even on the Spanish version I can't find any info about Boletins.
All this campo talk of metal and wooden poles is confusing me; I'm firmly encamped in the concrete jungle on the coast. I have bought and sold apartments during the last 3 years, but having just bought again, have only now come across this need for a boletin. I was told at Sevillana's office that in order to change even the billing address & details, let alone the titular, I now need a boletin. One company has quoted me €120 for said boletin. Do I understand that if I get the boletin, it will be good for 5 years, so if I sell within that time, the new owners will be able to use mine, thereby avoiding this expense? If this is the case, surely estate agents should be asking all sellers if they have a valid boletin (and if not, suggesting that they get one)?
Finally, who is qualified to issue a boletin, and do Sevillana offer the service themselves, and if so at what price?

[spanish_lad]

miro, thats exactly right. if you sell the house before the 5 years is up, you are covered. thats what i said earlier, if you want to change ANYTHING to do with it you'll need a bullatin. €120 is very cheap!!

if you sell after the 5 years, when the lawyer for the other party is doing his research about the house he should find that the bullatin is out of date and needs to be re-done, and possibly the house re-wiring. (extreme cases)


sevilliana dont do bullatins, its private contract. any registered spanish company normally, but its well worth asking around.

[Miro]

Thanks SL,
How long has this been the situation? I sold a property March last year and nobody mentioned anything about it, which is why I was a bit surprised to find out about it recently after buying another property. The big rhetoric question is, of course, why don't estate agents tell you anything about this? Why are they not more regulated, and obliged to check this kind of thing out before even listing a property for sale?

[spanish_lad]

its been in since 2003 i believe, but only this year has it been enforced.

why dont they ? cos they are money grabbing bar-stewards!! mwahaha always out for the fast buck. they never do research.

i guess your lawyer should check really.

[Miro]

Thanks again SL. If it's only been enforced this year that explains why I hadn't come across it B4. Don't use lawyers if I can help it. Why? Because they're money grabbing bar-sterwards! The agent I bought from is a personal friend of several years, Spanish, and he knows nothing about it either. This can only be for one of two reasons: a) he has not sold many properties lately b) he's thick.
If estate agents here were legally required to belong to some professional body, they would be notified of changes in legislation etc. and would thereby be better informed and able to offer a better service. And pigs might fly....

[jennyshaw]

[quote="spanish_lad"]its been in since 2003 i believe, but only this year has it been enforced.

We bought October 2005 got cut off April 2006, must have been enforced before this year.

[fearfulfred]

Well we have been to see the people who put in our double meter. Their attitude was you asked to have double meter installed ..we did it ..that's all. Anyway they will be back tomorrow to see about moving meter to a place that is readable etc etc. Should be no more than a 6 meter move ..possibly inset in our gatepost. Will let you see what we get and say what it costs also.

Fred

[spanish_lad]

..possibly inset in our gatepost. Fred

watch that its not going to weaken the structure too much, those boxes are big, gateposts are small. if you've got electric gates be especially careful. the put alot of stress on the post. better off in the wall if you've one next to it?

[fearfulfred]

Spanish

Posts are big and gates are not electric. There is no wall next to it. Will see how it goes as they are coming to give an estimate tomorrow. Will be careful and thanks for all the info

Fred

[spanish_lad]

fair play good luck

[Miro]

Just returning to the topic of boletins (sorry if this is the wrong thread);

The guy doing our reform told us we could probably re-use the existing wires, just install a new fuse box, circuit breakers etc. He knows a registered sparky who'll do the boletin, but I felt it would be better to do the job properly & change all the cables as well.

Can anybody tell me if there is a site on-line where I can actually find out what the minimum legal requirements are to satisfy the boletin?
I have asked at a couple of electrical suppliers, but I'd like to be sure. Does Endesa publish this information anywhere?

My man told me the price of copper has gone sky high recently, and for this reason the cables are very expensive. He had some figure in his head of €70 a metre for 6mm cabling (for the vitro ceramico), which nearly gave me a coronary. GOLD must be cheaper than that. Asking around today, I've had prices quoted around the €1 mark. Am I asking for the right stuff?