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100m trench for utility - cost OK?


Roz

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I've had two estimates come in for approx £3200 ex VAT to dig approx 100 metres in grass verge and some tarmac and lay ductwork ready for water and electric connection. Does this seem OK or should we keep badgering for more quotes? 

 

I only ask as one of them said on site it should only take 2 days. He has said he has quoted to bring another person with him so they can work around the other connections in the lane. 

 

This is down an unadopted lane, shared by 4 houses. This doesn't include the actual connections by Western Power and South West Water

 

Thanks for thoughts!

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12 minutes ago, ProDave said:

The issue is, for work in a roadside verge, the contractor needs a minor streetworks permit, and will have to pay the council's road opening permit fee. So not all "man and a digger" outfits can do this.

 

Is this necessary of the road is unadopted?

 

Edited by Hecateh
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Just now, Hecateh said:

 

Is this necessary of the road is unadopted 

Missed that bit. Then probably not, I was thinking of the public highway.

 

I smarted at paying £1000 for a 3 metre single track road crossing.

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I've got an unadopted lane to my plot.  Granted it is untarmaced, but council don't own it and I've just cracked on.  One man and a digger to create the trench, me laying the duct then back over to my digger operator to back fill and tidy up.

 

Northern Power grid have essentially done just the same to lay a new electric cable to my plot.  They dug the full 70m length, no questions asked, one bloke with a digger whilst his mate laid the duct.  Once done they pulled the cable through and connected it at the top of the lane to energise it.  They are coming back next week to connect that to my electric kiosk.

 

Cost of digging so far - £170. 

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Sounds like a 2 day job to me at most - get a bloke with a digger and lay the duct yourself as they dig.

 

You shouldn't have to mess about laying sand blinding or any such if you put ducts in so should be a quick and easy task.

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1 hour ago, Roz said:

I've had two estimates come in for approx £3200 ex VAT to dig approx 100 metres in grass verge and some tarmac and lay ductwork ready for water and electric connection. Does this seem OK or should we keep badgering for more quotes? 

 

I only ask as one of them said on site it should only take 2 days. He has said he has quoted to bring another person with him so they can work around the other connections in the lane. 

 

This is down an unadopted lane, shared by 4 houses. This doesn't include the actual connections by Western Power and South West Water

 

Thanks for thoughts!

 

Sounds like the over inflated price a (now dumped) plumber charged me.  2 men x 2 days - £800 per day each .... In their dreams!!!  In fact that makes even her prices look reasonable - if she had done the job she was paid for

Edited by Hecateh
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Thanks everyone. Will have to keep badgering some other people then. 

 

Do diggers just crack through tarmac? It's a pretty pot holed lane so doesn't strike me that it would be a strong layer of tarmac. Our neighbour has said we can use the grass verge that they own, but we might come across other utilities and need to avoid by going into the tarmac. Plus towards the bottom of the lane we don't have grass-verge permission so will likely be digging in tarmac there. How much does re-tarmacing cost??

 

We know there are 2 sets of household utilities running down the side of the lane we would want to use (but don't know where yet) how much caution should be given when digging around these? 

 

Yes we're all under the impression there's not much trouble as the lane is unadopted (we might have to do some highways work at the very end for a couple of metres but this isn't included in their prices until we have had this confirmed).

 

I was just confused as the one guy said it would only be two days like you all have said, but still quotes £3000. He also runs plant hire so it's not like he needs to hire the digger to do it. 

 

I've been passed a contact of a 'man with a digger' type guy so maybe he'll be more reasonable. 

 

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Firstly I would get a report off DigDat to see what’s in the lane. Then the contractor needs a Cat scanner to do a mark up of all the  services on the lane by both the map and the Cat scanner to confirm what’s there. 

 

And then once  they have confirmed that lot - they start digging ..! Half a day to mark out is not unreasonable. Also check they have good PI insurance ....

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Just now, PeterW said:

Firstly I would get a report off DigDat to see what’s in the lane. Then the contractor needs a Cat scanner to do a mark up of all the  services on the lane by both the map and the Cat scanner to confirm what’s there. 

 

And then once  they have confirmed that lot - they start digging ..! Half a day to mark out is not unreasonable. Also check they have good PI insurance ....

Thats great info thanks Peter. Is the info given by DigDat very precise? Or I suppose that's where the Cat scanner comes in. Would any 'man with a digger' have a cat scanner? A quick google tells me this means Cable Avoidance Tool, does it also detect water pipes?

 

 

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Cat will pick up pretty much anything metal - to find water sometimes you need to put a tone generator on the pipe but some pipes it doesn’t work with. 

 

The difference is that if you hit a water pipe, you fill the trench with water .... hit an 11kv underground cable and you fill your pants ..... 

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Thanks everyone. I'm more puzzled today as I asked for more details from one of them and they said they expect the job to take 2 weeks ?however it sounds like their quote did also include connecting in the road at the bottom, including the road opening fee they have to pay the council, whereas the other guy's didn't.

 

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