Contractor drilled through Electrical Cable

[Jothetaxi]

Last summer (on the first day of our holiday) we received a call from our building contractor saying they had drilled through the main electrical cable. UKPN were called out. UKPN said they would lay the cable but would not dig a trench, as it was too close to a tree.  The contractor dug the trench and UKPN laid the cable.

 

The contractor claims that the cable was too close the surface, which is why they drilled through it and this was cause to dispute any charges that might be made by UKPN.  They said on the phone they had lots of photos. They have since supplied only one photo.  The contractor has presented us with a bill for the digger and for labour.  They have also passed our details on to UKPN, who will now pursue us for payment for laying the cable. 

 

We have been told that because the cable was close to the surface, we should dispute this with UKPN, however, without more than one photo of the alleged badly positioned cable, we are not sure we have much of a case. We also face a bill from the contractor for equipment and labour.

 

We are questioning whether the contractor dug the cable by accident or through carelessness.  Without proof of more photos etc, we are unsure how we can prove the cable was too close to the surface.

 

Would UKPN keep notes on the position of the cable?  would they have notes regarding the issue? should we push the matter back to the contractor,as we were not present at the time?

 

Any thoughts on how we should approach this would be appreciated. 

[JohnMo]

We had a similar issue where contractors hit a mains water pipe, they got a fine and cost the repair.

 

Bottom line they are the professional, they are the ones that made a mistake, or had an unavoidable incident, it's their issue to sort out, they are or should be insured for such events, if they aren't that isn't your concern or problem.

 

Don't get involved, anyone comes and starts asking or telling you stuff is your issue, pass the contractors details to them.

 

18 minutes ago, Jothetaxi said:

We are questioning whether the contractor dug the cable by accident or through carelessness

It's not your issue to question, it's the contractors - getting involved just gets you in the middle of stuff you need not be in the middle off. Tell the contractor to deal with it - it's the issue.

 

[Andehh]

Our builder went through the villages main power cable 1 week into our build, several houses on emergancy gennies, half the village without power all day, and about 4 days of 24 hour work to resolve. 

 

Architects assured us builder was responsible, and had insurance for this... And when I gently confronted him on the day, he crossly assured me his wife wasn't getting a new car this year... 

 

Thank fully he managed to prove the cable wasn't laid to the drawings, and we never heard about it again. 

 

 

Its a shitty situation, but if there is a doubt check before you dig is common sense... And a professional will know there are ways of checking. 

 

However.... Disputing and falling out over (say...) £5k bill on a £150k build will come back to bite you one way or another....but if it's £5k off a £15k bill..... So you need to judge the situation pragmatically 

 

 

[Gus Potter]

25 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

It's not your issue to question, it's the contractors - getting involved just gets you in the middle of stuff you need not be in the middle off. Tell the contractor to deal with it - it's the issue.

John, your experience is showing, admire, one sentence only!

 

47 minutes ago, Jothetaxi said:

Last summer

Take John's advice and see how it pans out. The builder may just chuck in the towel. At the end of the day they knew there was a cable somewhere, the depth is a bit of a moot point. 

[Jothetaxi]

Thank you for the replies.
This incident happened last summer - around August time.  UKPN have only just written to the contractor. . 

The contractor hasn’t supplied anything so far to show they didn’t act out of negligence. 
 

We are at the end of the building work now, with snagging to deal with. Working with the contractor has not been great…

 

The Architect is also telling us that UKPN holds the homeowner responsible.  
 

Looks like they are both trying to shunt responsibility onto us but we will stand our ground. 

 

 
 

 

[Roger440]

2 hours ago, Jothetaxi said:

Thank you for the replies.
This incident happened last summer - around August time.  UKPN have only just written to the contractor. . 

The contractor hasn’t supplied anything so far to show they didn’t act out of negligence. 
 

We are at the end of the building work now, with snagging to deal with. Working with the contractor has not been great…

 

The Architect is also telling us that UKPN holds the homeowner responsible.  
 

Looks like they are both trying to shunt responsibility onto us but we will stand our ground. 

 

 
 

 

I can see that as the contractor was working for you, assuming you personally engaged them that they would hold you liable. They were your contractor. Id be very surprised if, legally, that could go any other way.

 

Contractor needs a cat scan tool. Not really doing thr job in a professional manner if he didnt have one. A completely avoidable incident.

[ProDave]

@Jothetaxi what work were you having done?  New build?  Extension?  Other?

 

When I employed a contractor to to the foundations and timber frame erection I was surprised that they asked to see my self build insurance policy.  I guess in the event of anything similar happening here, the costs would have been claimed on my self build policy?

[Nickfromwales]

In Leicester the builder dug up the 3ph cable that serviced the very busy steakhouse / pub next door. 
 

Plans didn’t show the cable.

 

Neither builder nor client paid a penny, nor were they asked to.

 

It shut the pub at peak lunchtime on a very busy day, so lost revenues would have run into multiples of thousands.

 

The repair was made immediately and THEN the cable was added to their records.

 

Bottom line here is, the supply head and meter would have been in this locality, so the likelihood is that Gumbo, the low earning digger driver, just didn’t put 2+2 together or do any diligence whatsoever. 
 

Depth of the service should have been identified by the digger operator having a banksman (or woman 👀) looking for the cable manually, with a trench shovel, and then this would never have happened.

 

Has a bill been presented to anyone? It’s on the contractor if he was principal, but very likely it’ll land in your lap if you were principal.

 

Too many people operate sites with their heads down and fingers crossed. If that’s saved north of (say) the £5k bill then you’re still ahead. 

[Jothetaxi]

 

Thanks for all the replies. The letter from UKPN asks for details of those responsible for causing the damage to UKPN's property. As the contractor was responsible for the damage,we feel it right to refer it over to them.  

 

The work the contractor carried out was for a major renovation and extension to our home (we are not living in it). They had responsibility for the site under the contract.

 

When it happened, we were away on holiday and were told the cable was close to the surface. We suggested they take lots of photos to prove this and they confirmed they already had.  Fast forward 5 months and the many photos they allegedly took still have not materialised, which leads us now to believe they were careless when carrying out the excavation work. Surely the natural thing to do would be to take lots of photos to cover yourself, use as evidence to present to an insurer, UKPN or whoever.  

Edited 2 hours ago by Jothetaxi

[Nickfromwales]

Lift your hands up in the air, and say "I didn't do it, I was in a different fecking country!!".

 

I think you should pull the band-aid off, and tell the contractor that this is between them and UKPN, and you wish to hear no more about it.

 

A service alteration at the very worst should be sub £2k, so they'll have to give their purse strings some slack and stump up. Doubt they'll be so quick to do it again then!