Builder needing advice after damaging temporary supply to new build!

[shaun rosier]

Hi Everyone,

I would really appreciate some advice on the following problem I have had with a temporary electric supply.

We are in the process of building a couple of flats and had a temporary supply put in, no problem! However much later when one of the labourers was putting the hockey sticks into the new boxes and needed to bust through some of the footing he stupidly damaged the cable with a breaker and grazed the cable exposing the outer sheath (cable was not severed) and there was a load bang and the cable started fizzing in the hole which was filled happened to be filled with water!

We called the supplier out to repair and two guys turned up to repair the cable and one of them got a zap of the cable as he tried to repair it. Before this the same labourer got a zap off the site cabin handle after he went through the cable.

We then had the two neighbours that lived down the lane come out and say there TVs had blown up!

The engineer said that there was no way that us going through the cable would have caused the TVs to blow and it was just a coincidence! I just don't believe that as it happened at exactly the same time!

He then called his boss and about 5 vans pulled up within about 20mins and started to take down the over head cables to the main road. They replaced a stretch of the cable and were working on one of the poles.

I don't remember exactly what our sparky said but he thinks that the supply cable had an existing fault and that the sheathing was somehow live and that's what caused the cabin to become live when it was damaged and the cable was possibly 'vibrating' and caused a surge down the line to blow up the TV's. This he says may be why the engineer got a shock as he didn't expect the sheathing to be live!

The reason why I could really do with some advise on this one is because the supplier is charging me for the whole team that turned up (about 6 guys) for about 5 hours with the overhead work when I was just expecting to pay for the two guys for a couple of hours to fix my temporary supply not half the road! I have offered to pay them what I think is fair but they say they will bring me to court if I don't cough up in full!

Any advice would be most welcome from the pros!

cheers

Shaun

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Alasdair's explanation is even more convincing - that it was a PME service that had already lost its neutral upstream and carried on without symptoms. The DNO will have a job arguing that your service cable fault directly caused that problem without at the same time revealing that they were not complying with the ESQCR. Subject to the specifics in the report, I can't see how you could be held responsible for it, or the consequential damage.

FWIW I 've fixed a ton of electronic gear that has been blown up by a wandering neutral. It's a specific hazard in my industry with lots of temporary 3-phase TNS on single-pole connectors and cables. Unlike lightning, which can destroy every semiconductor in one hit, the modest over-voltage of 400V maximum only normally affects the PSU and often just a few components within it. Repair was usually viable and well worth doing, although we sometimes had to write things off for insurance reasons depending on the circumstances. That was professional kit though, where a rack might be worth £100k or more.

 

[elsparko]

Alasdair's explanation is even more convincing - that it was a PME service that had already lost its neutral upstream and carried on without symptoms. The DNO will have a job arguing that your service cable fault directly caused that problem without at the same time revealing that they were not complying with the ESQCR. Subject to the specifics in the report, I can't see how you could be held responsible for it, or the consequential damage.

FWIW I 've fixed a ton of electronic gear that has been blown up by a wandering neutral. It's a specific hazard in my industry with lots of temporary 3-phase TNS on single-pole connectors and cables. Unlike lightning, which can destroy every semiconductor in one hit, the modest over-voltage of 400V maximum only normally affects the PSU and often just a few components within it. Repair was usually viable and well worth doing, although we sometimes had to write things off for insurance reasons depending on the circumstances. That was professional kit though, where a rack might be worth £100k or more.

100k? pop that down to the scrappy at lunchtime and go 50/50 with the boss aye?

maybe worth letting the supply company take you to court, then get a payout in your favour for your time etc.

 

[Toneyz]

It is where the neutral and earth of the consumer's installation is joined together so on the supply side you have the live conductor and the outer armouring in the combined neutral/earth conductor.

Why the dumb Rigpig at least have the decency to correct me or give the other viewpoint.

 

[123]

Why the dumb Rigpig at least have the decency to correct me or give the other viewpoint.

Chances are it's accidental on a phone. I've done it a few times, even when just trying to scroll down the screen

 

[johnduffell]

Chances are it's accidental on a phone. I've done it a few times, even when just trying to scroll down the screen

Yeah every time i post something loads of people accidentally hit disagree or dislike, really annoying

 

[shaun rosier]

RESULT!!!!

The company backed down today and are now only charging for the damage we did to the supply cable! They didn't admit fault of course but said they are dropping all the overhead cable charges!

Can I say a big thanks to all you guys who obviously know your stuff as we used your technical explanations in our replies to the company which I'm sure made them think twice about taking it further!!

Thanks again and if anyone needs building advice I'm happy to return the favour!

 

[elsparko]

RESULT!!!!

The company backed down today and are now only charging for the damage we did to the supply cable! They didn't admit fault of course but said they are dropping all the overhead cable charges!

Can I say a big thanks to all you guys who obviously know your stuff as we used your technical explanations in our replies to the company which I'm sure made them think twice about taking it further!!

Thanks again and if anyone needs building advice I'm happy to return the favour!

i have a block of granite, i need it turned into dust, how much?

5x5x5metres

 

[shaun rosier]

Kim Jong-Un might be able to help you on that one! He has a few nukes he needs to get rid of now!!

 

[elsparko]

Kim Jong-Un might be able to help you on that one! He has a few nukes he needs to get rid of now!!

could just drive down to trumps golf course and start digging up the greens with a putter, maybe now they are mates he will just fire them at me

 

[ruston]

i have a block of granite, i need it turned into dust, how much?

5x5x5metres

We used to get similar problems when it would not fragment with a blast.

Stock photo but we used to get them like this regular.

 

[elsparko]

We used to get similar problems when it would not fragment with a blast.

View attachment 42752
Stock photo but we used to get them like this regular.

no idea how guys managed to drill this stuff out before electric motors!

think id go mad with the cold chisel and twist method

 

[ruston]

no idea how guys managed to drill this stuff out before electric motors!
think id go mad with the cold chisel and twist method

Amazing really when you think of what the ancients done with it.
We got close to a village and had to restrict the amount of blasting and as bad luck would have it we hit limestone . The blasting would only split it. We had Caterpillar D9 dozers in with with single ripper picks fitted ; they hardly looked at it.

 

[elsparko]

Amazing really when you think of what the ancients done with it.
We got close to a village and had to restrict the amount of blasting and as bad luck would have it we hit limestone . The blasting would only split it. We had Caterpillar D9 dozers in with with single ripper pics fitted ; they hardly looked at it.

seen a video of a pensioner on youtube splitting huge boulders with just a cold chisel and bolster

seen guys struggle to drill through concrete slabs without splitting it! they just cant resist using hammer mode even though its soft like butter to just drill through

does amaze me how civilizations with no heavy transport could move such stones

heres the vid of the old bloke

 

[ruston]

seen a video of a pensioner on youtube splitting huge boulders with just a cold chisel and bolster

seen guys struggle to drill through concrete slabs without splitting it! they just cant resist using hammer mode even though its soft like butter to just drill through

does amaze me how civilizations with no heavy transport could move such stones

heres the vid of the old bloke

I worked with an old stone mason that could do that . He worked at a famous quarry in Northumberland .
He used to hue the winstone from the solid and hand cut the sets for the old cobbled streets . He was amazing to watch.

 

[elsparko]

I worked with an old stone mason that could do that . He worked at a famous quarry in Northumberland .
He used to hue the winstone from the solid and hand cut the sets for the old cobbled streets . He was amazing to watch.

when i was really young i threw a big metal spike straight into the chuckies below me, ended up with a stone stuck in my throat for ages LOL , just think of all the man hours it must have taken to cobble all the roads of britain at one time