Home / Cost guides / Who fits a smart meter, and what is separate?
Who fits a smart meter, and what is separate?
Energy suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales have to provide smart meters, and GOV.UK says you will not be charged for the installation the supplier arranges. A new circuit or a fuse box is a different job, and this guide does not print a figure for that work.
Last reviewed:The supplier fits the meter
A smart meter records gas or electricity use and sends readings to the supplier. GOV.UK says the government has required energy suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales to provide smart meters to their customers [S1]. You get in touch with the supplier, and the supplier can arrange for the meters to be installed at a time and date that suits you [S1]. You will not be charged for the installation [S1].
That is the whole of the money sentence this guide will print about the meter itself. It is not a price list for an electrician, and it is not a tariff. The same page says tariffs of a kind this guide will not name are available to people who have smart meters. Ask the supplier what tariff you are on. Do not treat a meter visit as a shopping exercise for a local firm.
Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the first towns in mind. Anyone in the UK can post or register. The supplier rule above is for England, Scotland and Wales [S1]. If you are comparing a quote from a local electrician, you are comparing a different job.
What arrives with the meter
Most homes have 2 meters, one for gas and one for electricity, and both will be replaced with smart meters [S1]. You will also be offered an in-home display, a handheld device that sits in the home [S1]. It shows energy use in near-real time, in pounds and pence [S1]. The installation will also include a communications hub, which allows the smart meters and the in-home display to communicate with each other, and links the system to the secure national smart meter network [S1]. Customers with smart meters are only charged for the energy they use, rather than receiving estimated bills [S1]. The first bill after installation may still be estimated, depending on the timing of the billing cycle [S1].
A second GOV.UK page, written for people designing new buildings, says smart meters are provided and installed at no additional cost by the energy supplier [S2]. It also says meters can only be installed by meter operators or energy suppliers [S2]. That second sentence is why a post that says "electrician to fit my smart meter" is the wrong shape. The supplier, or a meter operator, fits the meter. An electrician fits electrical installation work.
Electrical Safety First: find a registered electrician; NICEIC; NAPIT. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
What a local electrician is actually for
GOV.UK lists "replace fuse boxes and connected electrics" and "change electrics near a bath or shower" among alteration projects that might need building regulations approval [S3]. Those are not the smart meter. If the supplier's installer says the existing tails or the consumer unit are in the way, ask them what they will and will not do, and get a separate quote if the work is yours to arrange.
With the exception of some minor tasks, electrical work must either be reported to the local authority building control body or carried out by a registered electrician who is a member of a government-approved scheme [S4]. By law, homeowners and landlords must be able to prove that electrical installation work meets Part P, or they will be committing a criminal offence [S4]. You either tell local-authority building control about the installation work before it starts, or you employ an electrician registered with one of those schemes [S4]. This guide does not list which tasks are the minor exception, and it does not tell you to open a consumer unit.
Electrical Safety First explains the building regulations route. The Planning Portal says electrical installation work in a home or garden in England and Wales must comply with the building regulations, and that an installer registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify [S5]. If the installer is not registered, certain riskier jobs need to be inspected, approved and certificated by a building control body or, in England only, by an electrician registered with a third-party certification scheme, and that body or certifier must be notified before the work starts [S5]. A complete new circuit is in that group, including a circuit for a cooker, a shower or an immersion heater [S5]. In England, the spaces around baths and showers are special locations [S5]. None of that is the supplier swapping a meter.
Wiring a plug on an appliance is a different page: how a plug is dealt with. An electric shower is electric shower installation.
What to ask the supplier, and what to ask a tradesperson
Ask the supplier:
- Whether both the gas and electricity meters are in the visit, if you have both [S1].
- Whether an in-home display is part of the visit [S1].
- What they need clear around the meter, and whether they will move your cupboard. Do not dismantle a cupboard yourself to "make space" if you are unsure what is live.
- What happens if they cannot fit the meter on the day. This guide does not print a reason code.
Ask an electrician, only if there is a separate job:
- Whether the work is a new circuit, a fuse box, or something else [S3] [S5].
- Who tells building control, or which scheme they are on [S4].
- Whether the price includes making good, and whether the supplier's visit is assumed to have happened already.
Citizens Advice says some traders charge for quotes, so ask first, and to try to get written quotes from at least 3 traders [S6]. A quote is a fixed price. An estimate is a rough guess [S6]. That advice is for the electrical job you are hiring, not for the supplier's meter visit, which is arranged with the supplier [S1].
| Line | Supplier meter visit | Separate electrical job |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Energy supplier or a meter operator [S2] | A registered electrician, or building control is told [S4] |
| What you pay them for the visit | You will not be charged for the installation [S1] | A written quote for the work you described [S6] |
| Display | An in-home display is offered, with a communications hub [S1] | Not a display; a fuse box or electrics near a bath [S3] |
| Gas and electricity meters | Both are replaced where the home has both [S1] | Not the meters [S2] |
| Bills | Charged for the energy used, rather than estimated bills [S1] | Unrelated to the meter tariff |
| First bill | May still be estimated, depending on the billing cycle [S1] | Not a bill from the supplier |
| Near a bath | Not this visit | Electrics near a bath may need building regulations approval [S3] |
Cheshire houses, cupboards and the meter you already have
If the meter is in a cupboard under the stairs, or on an outside wall, say which, without taking the cover off. If the cupboard also holds the consumer unit, say that, so a supplier visit and an electrician's visit are not mixed into one price. This guide does not say that every Cheshire house has the meter in one place. It says you should describe the one you have.
If you are in a flat, say so, including how someone reaches the meter. The installation appointment is still one the supplier arranges [S1]. A landlord and a tenant should agree who asks the supplier, in writing, before either of them posts a job for other electrical work.
A new house is the other case. The design guidance says meters can only be installed by meter operators or energy suppliers [S2]. It also says you should discuss the order of installation and commissioning of the gas and electricity meters with the energy supplier before work begins on site [S2]. If you have just moved in and there is no smart meter, the call is still to the supplier [S1], not to a general building firm.
VAT, and the price this guide will not invent
A business registers for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 [S7]. That threshold matters if a local electrician quotes for a fuse box or a new circuit. It does not create a price for the supplier's meter visit. This guide does not print a call-out figure, an hourly figure, or a range for electrical work. The live page that discusses electrician visits in the county is the electrician cost guide.
Electricians are the trade for the separate job. They are not a substitute for the supplier.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- "Supplier says the consumer unit must be replaced before they will fit a smart meter. Please quote the consumer unit only, and say which scheme you are on. The meter itself stays with the supplier."
- "New circuit for a cooker, wanted before a kitchen fit. Smart meter is already in. Please quote the circuit and say who tells building control."
- "Outside meter cupboard is rotten. Please quote to remake the cupboard so the supplier can reach the meter. Do not remove the meter."
How the replies should be read
A reply that offers to supply and fit a smart meter, and puts its own price on that visit, has not followed the GOV.UK sentence that you will not be charged for the installation the supplier arranges [S1]. Ask them to cross that line out or to explain, in writing, what they are actually fitting. A reply that quotes a fuse box, names the scheme, and leaves the meter to the supplier matches the split on this page [S2] [S4].
Up to five matched local businesses can send a quote [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].
Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.
Posting a job is not open yet
Will the supplier's installation be charged?
GOV.UK's household guide says you will not be charged for the installation. You contact the energy supplier, and the supplier arranges a time and date that suits you. A separate page for new buildings says smart meters are provided and installed at no additional cost by the energy supplier. This guide does not add a trade price on top of those sentences.
Can a local electrician fit the meter?
GOV.UK's new-build guidance says meters can only be installed by meter operators or energy suppliers. Posting a job for an electrician to 'fit a smart meter' asks for something that page does not give to a general electrician. An electrician can still be the right person for a new circuit or a fuse box, which is not the meter.
What is the in-home display?
The household guide says you will also be offered an in-home display, a handheld device that sits in the home and shows energy use in near-real time, in pounds and pence. The installation will also include a communications hub. The display is part of what the supplier offers with the meter. It is not a television bracket and it is not a new socket.
Do smart meters stop estimated bills?
The household guide says customers with smart meters are only charged for the energy they use, rather than receiving estimated bills. It also says the first bill after installation may be estimated, depending on the timing of the billing cycle. This guide does not promise a particular bill.
What if I also need a new circuit?
That is electrical installation work in the home. With the exception of some minor tasks, Electrical Safety First says it must be reported to the local authority building control body or carried out by a registered electrician in a government-approved scheme. Keep that quote separate from the supplier's meter visit.
Does QuoteZila check electricians?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
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Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ How does getting quotes work.
- S1: Smart meters: a guide for households, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/smart-meters-how-they-work
- S2: Design and construct new builds to be smart-meter-ready, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-and-construct-new-builds-to-enable-smart-meter-installations/guidance-on-designing-and-constructing-new-builds-to-be-smart-meter-ready-accessible-webpage
- S3: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S4: Building regulations, Electrical Safety First. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/find-a-registered-electrician/building-regulations/
- S5: Building regulations: electrics, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/electrics/building-regulations-general-information/
- S6: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S7: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat