Builders Lucky Escape

[mort2376]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-blackout-putting-fence-sent-bill-24-000.html

Lucky escape, but you have to ask why so close to the surface and I cant see any warning tape or tiles.

 

[ProDave]

It looks like that garden has been lowered so is is lower than the adjacent road / path. It could well have been at the correct depth before the garden was lowered.

A proper tradesman would have PL insurance which would have covered the bill for repairing the cable. (thankfully I have never needed to test that)

 

[mort2376]

I (touch wood) have never needed to test my PL insurance, but I wonder how many would have done a cable check for putting a fence up in your own garden.

Yes look at where the fusebox is but an 11K cable !

 

[UNG]

Looking at the pictures it looks like that cable was running along the boundary line so how close to the existing fence posts was it, if he was digging out an old post is it reasonable to assume that it is safe to dig in that location
The big question is how good / accurate were the DNO cable plans prior to this find

 

[Andy™]

where is the property boundary? at a guess, its end of the concrete footpath. in which case, the cable is on private land. wonder if they have permission and are paying the owner for said cable being buried there? maybe time for them to tell DNO to shift it off their property, at their cost

 

[Murdoch]

The mains cables into the homes in our road can be as little as 300 mm down - as one landscaper found out

 

[UNG]

Reminds me of one a couple of years ago doing some work on a house for a guy I've known for many years I had an SDS machine with an 8mm bit about 300mm long out for the job I was doing and he asked could he borrow it to drill a few holes in the drive to try and drain the puddles 2nd or 3rd hole and he hits the plastic gas pipe feeding the house, so lifted some bricks and found the gas pipe less than 200mm deep, the guy came out from Cadent and what a jobsworth once he had got the repair crew on the way he was going on about how much it would cost and they would be sending a bill for the repair I pointed out that the regs state it should be 450 - 600mm his response was that doesn't apply to old properties, when the repair crew arrived they took the legs from under him saying it should be much deeper than it was and it should really be reported to the HSE. I believe they left saying the whole street should be surveyed as the contractors who replaced the gas pipes a number of years before were obviously not supervised and the work checked properly

 

[Kot]

11000v Really??? 1 foot under ground Really???

 

[apprentice87]

I would tell then to get stuffed..

1, how did it cost £24,000???? The people that fixed it have to be paid anyway.

2, looks like it is on the homeowners ground. As pointed out, i would be telling them that they have no wayleave agreement, it is trespass to property and get it moved. Further, you try to sue us, and we will counterclaim for the injury and the PTSD...

3, Since it constitutes an actionable nuisance, it prevents them building on their property, you have a right to "self abatement" i would not have let them repair it and told them to shift it.

4, I would get the HSE too..

5, The electric people might try to get a wayleave, but i doubt very much that you can get a retrospective one..

6, Since they have repaired it, i doubt very much that it is now a minimum 1000mm i think it is with HV cables below the garden, it would be HSE time again..

john..

 

[rjp44]

I (touch wood) have never needed to test my PL insurance, but I wonder how many would have done a cable check for putting a fence up in your own garden.

Yes look at where the fusebox is but an 11K cable !

I certainly don't see the fault as one way here. Bare 11kv cable at <300mm below soil level, really???
Assuming that it is on private property and not just outside the fence line, the 11kv DNO plant would probably have needed a wayleave and be paying rent so the householder should be aware it is there.
I would have thought someone should be involving HSE here. I can see why a tradesman would be reluctant to do that, but that could just as easily have been a DIYer putting in a fence on their own property or even householder planting rose bushes. They should not be able to dig into an un-marked, unprotected, shallow 11kv cable. If (big "if") the mans description of the nature of the DNO installation is correct then it is, at the very least, a contributory factor and the flow of any compensation may need to match the flow of electrons in the opposite direction to the one the DNO is asking for.

Faced with such a demand I would be asking the DNO in what way they felt their installation which gave rise to the incident complied with the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002. I think I would then expect things to go very, very quiet.

 

[surrey bloke]

https://www.hse.gov.uk/esqcr/what-must-be-reported.htm#death
riddor seems applicable

 

[apprentice87]

I do not think the bloke was working in has capacity as a builder. It stated that he was doing "an odd job" for his sister.

I think the DNO are all mouth.. If the cable should not have been there, there is nothing they can do, be a bit like if you hijacked a car at gun point and the driver then crashes and expecting to get compensation.. [oh wait, this is the uk]

john..

 

[Murdoch]

Saw this yesterday builders prep for SSE.

450mm deep and no requirement for warning tape!

 

[mort2376]

Last 3phase 60kva new mains I did it had to be 900mm minimum

 

[Murdoch]

Saw this yesterday builders prep for SSE.

450mm deep and no requirement for warning tape!

Incidentally SSE have only said the depth, nothing about warning tape

 

[ProDave]

Usually, heart disease leads to clot formation. That then moves and temporarily (or permanently) blocks the blood supply to the back legs.

Sadly you may get one or two warnings (like this) but then it can get to a point where the blood supply remains blocked and realistically the kindest thing is to have the beastie put to sleep at that point.

Aortic thrombus/thromboembalism if you want some sad googling.

Sorry not great news

Incidentally SSE have only said the depth, nothing about warning tape

Surprising. They normally give the stuff away by the roll, my current roll or warning tape is "SSE branded"

 

[apprentice87]

Saw this yesterday builders prep for SSE.

450mm deep and no requirement for warning tape!

SSE state this... The builders can think what they like..

john..