Utilities

When an extension covers the spot where your gas or electricity meter sits, the meter has to move, and that brings in a small kit of parts most homeowners have never heard of. The energy supplier or network does the live connection, but the builder fits the box, lays the duct and leaves the cable a clear path, and all of that has to be right before the meter move is booked.

These guides cover the parts that appear when a supply is relocated for a build: the external meter box built into the new wall, the meter tails that link the meter to the consumer unit, the long-radius duct bend that brings a buried supply up out of the trench, and the draw cord left inside every empty duct so a cable can be pulled through later. Each page explains what the part is, who fits it and who connects it, and the lead-time traps that catch people out.

Where to start

Read the external meter box guide first. The box is a cheap standard part, but it has to be built into the blockwork as the wall goes up, and the supplier's own lead time for moving the meter can hold up the build if you book late. Then read meter tails, which explains the supplier's seal your electrician cannot break and how an isolator avoids waiting for the supplier every time.

The guides, grouped by job

At the wall. The external meter box and the meter tails running from the meter to the consumer unit.

In the ground. The duct bend (hockey stick) that sweeps the supply up into the box, and the duct draw cord left in every empty duct, including spare ducts for future garden power or an EV charger.

Where these fit in the build

All four parts come together in utility meter relocation, which needs starting early because network lead times run into weeks. The tails and consumer unit are then connected during first fix electrics. To estimate what a move is likely to cost, use the utility relocation cost calculator.