GUIDE

Smart Meter Installation — An Electrician's Perspective

Smart meters are fitted by your energy supplier, not an electrician. But a significant number of installations fail because of electrical issues at the property. Here is what electricians need to know — and what homeowners should resolve before the appointment.

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9 min readUpdated 2026-05-18Andrew Moore, Founder of Elec-Mate

Written and reviewed by Andrew Moore, founder of Elec-Mate, against BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Guidance Note 3 and the IET On-Site Guide.

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Key Takeaways

  • 1Smart meters are installed by your electricity supplier, not an electrician. However, electricians are often called in before or after a smart meter installation to resolve issues that prevent the meter from being fitted — such as an outdated consumer unit, no RCD protection, or a TT earthing system requiring attention.
  • 2SMETS2 meters are the current generation. They communicate via the national Data Communications Company (DCC) network and retain their smart functionality even if you switch energy supplier — unlike first-generation SMETS1 meters, which often reverted to dumb mode after a switch.
  • 3Common barriers to smart meter installation include: old consumer units without RCD protection, TT (earth electrode) earthing systems with complications at the service head, inadequate clearance at the meter position, or a defective service head (the sealed fuse supplied by the DNO).
  • 4The Distribution Network Operator (DNO) owns and is responsible for the service head (cutout) and the supply cable to your property. Your electricity supplier is responsible for the meter itself.
  • 5An In-Home Display (IHD) provides real-time energy use data and is supplied free of charge with a smart meter. It connects wirelessly to the meter via Zigbee and does not require any electrical work to install.
01 · Guide

SMETS1 vs SMETS2 — What Is the Difference?

Smart meters in Great Britain are deployed in two generations, known as SMETS1 (Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications version 1) and SMETS2. Understanding the difference matters because it affects whether your meter retains its smart functions when you switch energy supplier.

  • SMETS1 (first generation, deployed 2012 to 2019) — communicated via each energy supplier's own proprietary network. When you switched supplier, the meter often lost smart functionality and reverted to dumb mode, requiring manual meter readings. Many SMETS1 meters have since been migrated to the DCC network and restored to smart operation.
  • SMETS2 (second generation, deployed from 2019) — communicates via the Data Communications Company (DCC) national network. SMETS2 meters retain full smart functionality regardless of which energy supplier you use, because they all connect to the same DCC infrastructure. All new smart meter installations now use SMETS2.
  • DCC migration of SMETS1 meters — Smart Energy GB and the DCC have been progressively migrating SMETS1 meters onto the national network. If you have a SMETS1 meter that lost smart functions after switching supplier, contact your current supplier to check whether migration has been completed for your meter.

From an electrician's perspective, the distinction between SMETS1 and SMETS2 is less important than the physical installation conditions. Both are fitted by the energy supplier's engineer, not by an electrician. What matters electrically is whether the installation is in a suitable condition to accept a new meter.

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02 · Guide

Who Is Responsible for What

Smart meter installation involves several parties with distinct responsibilities. Understanding who does what helps homeowners and electricians identify the correct point of contact when problems arise.

  • Distribution Network Operator (DNO) — owns and maintains the electricity network from the substation to the service head (cutout) at your property. The DNO is responsible for the service head, service cable, and anything upstream of the meter. The six DNO areas in England, Scotland, and Wales are National Grid Electricity Distribution, UK Power Networks, Northern Powergrid, Electricity North West, SP Energy Networks, and SSEN.
  • Electricity supplier — your energy company is responsible for the meter itself. The supplier arranges and books the smart meter installation and sends their own engineer or a third-party metering contractor to carry out the work.
  • The homeowner and their electrician — responsible for everything downstream of the meter: the meter tails from the meter to the consumer unit, the consumer unit itself, all circuits, and the earthing arrangement within the property. If any of these require attention before a smart meter can be fitted, a registered electrician must carry out the work.

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03 · Guide

Why Smart Meters Cannot Always Be Installed

A significant proportion of smart meter installation appointments fail or are aborted because of conditions at the property. The smart meter engineer — who is not a qualified electrician — is not permitted to carry out electrical work on your installation. If problems are found, they will typically leave and refer the homeowner back to their supplier or to an electrician.

  • Defective or undersized service head — the service head (cutout) is the sealed unit that contains the DNO's main fuse. If it is old, damaged, undersized, or in the wrong location, the DNO must attend before the meter can be changed. Service head issues are outside the electrician's scope — contact the DNO directly.
  • Meter tails in poor condition — the cables between the service head and the meter (meter tails) must be in sound condition. Old rubber-insulated or lead-sheathed tails, or tails with damaged insulation, will prevent the installation. Replacement of meter tails is a job for a registered electrician and is notifiable under Part P in England.
  • No adequate earthing at the meter position — where the property uses a TT earthing system, the smart meter engineer may request confirmation that the earth electrode provides adequate resistance to earth. An electrician may need to test and document the earthing arrangement.
  • Meter in an inaccessible location — the meter must be accessible for the engineer to safely disconnect and reconnect. Meters concealed in built-in furniture, under stairs without access, or behind fixed cladding may need to be relocated. Relocation of a meter involves the supplier, DNO, and an electrician.
  • Wireless signal issues — SMETS2 meters communicate via the DCC wide-area network using a SMETS2 communications hub. In some rural or shielded locations, the signal is weak. Where signal is insufficient, the installation may be deferred pending network improvements or an alternative communications solution.
04 · Guide

Consumer Unit and TT Earthing Issues

Two of the most common reasons smart meter installations are blocked relate to the consumer unit and the earthing system. An electrician is the correct person to resolve both of these.

Many older properties still have consumer units with rewirable fuse carriers (fuse wire) or early cartridge fuse types, with no RCD protection. While a smart meter engineer is not required to refuse installation solely because of an old consumer unit, some engineers and some supplier policies will not proceed where there is an obvious safety concern. Upgrading to a modern metal-clad consumer unit with RCD or RCBO protection resolves this and brings the installation closer to the current edition of BS 7671.

  • TT earthing systems — in a TT system, the earth path for fault current passes through a local earth electrode rather than through the supplier's network. The electrode resistance must be low enough to allow protective devices to operate within the required disconnection time. An electrician should test the electrode resistance using a loop impedance tester and document the result. RCD protection is essential in all TT installations under BS 7671 Regulation 411.5.3.
  • PME (TN-C-S) earthing and modern loads — properties on a PME supply should be aware that connecting certain loads such as EV chargers requires specific precautions under BS 7671. This is separate from smart metering but increasingly relevant as electric vehicle charging and smart tariffs converge.

If you are uncertain about your earthing system type, an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) will identify this and any related deficiencies as part of its findings.

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05 · Guide

In-Home Display (IHD) — What It Does and Does Not Do

The In-Home Display (IHD) is a small wireless screen provided free with every smart meter installation. It communicates with the smart meter using Zigbee (a low-power wireless protocol) via the Home Area Network (HAN) and displays real-time energy consumption data for both electricity and gas.

  • What the IHD shows — current electricity consumption in watts or kilowatts, cost per hour at current consumption rate, cumulative daily and weekly usage, gas consumption where a smart gas meter is also fitted, and a traffic light indicator for low, medium, and high consumption.
  • What the IHD does not do — it does not control appliances, it does not communicate with the internet directly, and it does not replace a smart home hub. It is a display device only. It requires no electrical installation work — it simply plugs into a standard socket outlet.
  • Range limitations — the IHD communicates wirelessly with the meter via Zigbee. The range is typically 10 to 30 metres through walls. If your meter is in an outbuilding or in a remote location, the IHD may not receive a reliable signal. In this case, a third-party smart energy monitor connected directly to the electricity supply may be a better solution.
06 · Guide

The Electrician's Role in Smart Meter Installations

Electricians do not install smart meters — that is the energy supplier's responsibility. However, electricians frequently carry out preparatory or remedial work that enables a smart meter installation to proceed or that is triggered by issues discovered during a failed smart meter appointment.

  • Replacing meter tails — old rubber-insulated, lead-sheathed, or damaged meter tails between the service head and consumer unit. This requires working in close proximity to the live service head; a properly insulated mat and appropriate PPE must be used. The service head cannot be de-energised by the electrician — only the DNO can do this.
  • Upgrading the consumer unit — replacing an old fuse board with a modern, metal-clad split-load or RCBO consumer unit complying with BS EN 61439-3. This is notifiable work under Part P and must be certified with an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) and a Building Regulations compliance certificate from a registered competent person scheme.
  • Earthing system assessment and improvement — testing earth electrode resistance on TT systems, installing additional electrodes where required, and documenting the results on the appropriate certificate. Issuing an EICR or EIC that the homeowner can provide to the smart meter installer as evidence of compliance.
  • Main bonding — ensuring main protective bonding conductors are in place for gas and water services under BS 7671 Regulation 411.3.1.2. Old properties sometimes lack bonding on one or both services, which is a C2 deficiency on an EICR and should be rectified before any new meter work.
07 · Guide

Costs and How to Prepare for a Smart Meter Installation

The smart meter itself and its installation are provided free of charge by your energy supplier. You should never pay for the meter or the installation engineer. However, if your property requires preparatory electrical work, you will need to pay an electrician for that separately.

  • Smart meter installation — free, arranged by your supplier. The appointment typically takes 30 to 90 minutes. You do not need to be present for the electricity meter only, but you must be present if a gas meter is also being changed.
  • Meter tail replacement — typically £150 to £350 depending on the length of the run and the condition of the existing installation. Includes materials, labour, and the required Minor Works or EIC certificate.
  • Consumer unit upgrade — typically £300 to £900 for a full consumer unit replacement in a domestic property. See the consumer unit types guide for a detailed cost breakdown by unit type and property size.
  • Earthing system assessment — an EICR including earthing tests typically costs £150 to £350 for a domestic property. Where additional earth electrodes or bonding conductors are required, allow an additional £100 to £250 for materials and labour.

Electricians working on smart meter-related preparatory work should issue the appropriate certificate: a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEWC) for minor additions and alterations, or an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) for new consumer unit installations. Elec-Mate supports both certificate types with on-site PDF generation and cloud storage.

Smart Meter Installation — Frequently Asked Questions

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