Wayleave question - SP Energy Quote

[MarkW1979]

So I've received a quote from SP Energy to provide the electrical connection for £5,300 which includes "Wayleave and land access fees" of £625. The work involves coming off a LV overhead line and routing underground approx 55m to my plot through a field owned by a family member (the same family member who gave us the land to build on). Are these fees appropriate in this case (provided I can confirm the circumstances)?

 

Thanks in advance.

[SuperJohnG]

It's essentially putting together a new wayleave which involves a legal process so similar to that of conveyancing. If you have gone direct to SP energy networks it'll be competitive and also mostly hassle free when they come to do it. I crossed three fields,  total 6 poles,  all with different owners and installed a new transformer too - all done by them. Apart from taking a little time coordinating land owners it was relatively hassle free. 

[Kelvin]

SSEN didn’t charge me anything for the wayleave in that it wasn’t detailed separately on their quote.  They needed to know who owned the land but I’d already gone to the Scottish register and got the title for the land so they didn’t need to do that assuming they even needed to do that which I doubt. That cost £45. They wrote to my neighbour to seek her permission to cross her field then drew up the wayleave. 
 

My total bill was £1016 for 21m with 4m on the neighbour’s land. I subsequently got a refund of £350 as they didn’t use mains cable so also didn’t need to joint it to the service cable. That included taking a tree down. I did all the trenching groundworks myself including ducting, sand, tape, backfilling,  foundation for the kiosk and kiosk installation. All that came to £400 for the materials. Therefore, I’d say your quote is quite dear by comparison. Different DNO of course. Also worth pointing out that I got two previous budget estimates before they did a final quote. The first was £26,000 which I obviously questioned and the second was £5000.  
 

What else is included in the quote? 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Kelvin

[nod]

You perhaps need to look at the overall quote 

5k over the obove distance is very good compared to many

[Bonner]

Yes the fees are appropriate and reasonable. Doesn’t matter that the land is owned by the family, the DNO needs to ensure the legal rights are established.

Do they mention contestable works? You can get an alternative quote for trenching etc. (or do it yourself).

[MarkW1979]

Fair enough. I don't think it is unreasonable to be honest - just at present prices saving the odd few hundred pounds here and there is very helpful.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

"Excavate and lay cable" is priced at £2286...

[Bonner]

You could save on the excavation but it would need separating out from the cable lay and done according to their specification/instructions. Worth a conversation with their engineer (not the estimating team!)

[Kelvin]

15 hours ago, MarkW1979 said:

Fair enough. I don't think it is unreasonable to be honest - just at present prices saving the odd few hundred pounds here and there is very helpful.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

"Excavate and lay cable" is priced at £2286...

 

You could do some of that yourself but you’d need access to a digger. I did 21m by hand largely because the digger I had access to broke down. I formed a good relationship with the SSEN project manager for my job and he was very helpful. The instructions on what I needed to do were very clear. 

[Temp]

On 09/08/2022 at 23:18, MarkW1979 said:

So I've received a quote from SP Energy to provide the electrical connection for £5,300....

 

That's less than £100 a meter which is what I was quoted back in 2007. I think it's a very good price for them doing the work. 

 

 

[MarkW1979]

I'm a bit pessimistic about it coming out at £5,300 to be honest as there are some mature trees in the way and the plot is up a slight bank so I imagine path through everything won't be as straight forward as it appears on plan of the area. I did explain this to the chap preparing the quote but he just said this would all be resolved at the next stage after the invoice is paid. Anyway, I'm more concerned at present about the water connection (just waiting for drainage drawings to be done so I can submit to Scottish Water in order for them to provide a quote).