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

 

[Dave OCD]

Shaun

First off I'd say the labourer was rather foolish to be using a powerful breaker in an area where it was obvious there was a buried mains cable. It will be nigh on impossible to prove that all of the following issues were not associated with the initial cable strike and the best you can do is try some negotiation with your DNO.
Your Sparks isn't making sense to me with his theories, sorry this isn't a very helpful reply but I'm just being honest as I see it mate.

 

[LankyWill]

Who’s the company and how much they asking?

 

[LankyWill]

Secondly, who employs the labourer? If you have employed builders under a contract, pass the bill to them.

 

[westward10]

Sounds like an episode of Some Mothers Do Ave Em.

 

[paleosparky13]

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

Overhead lines 400+kv 33kv carry very little current less than a house. 11.5kv sub mains and sub rings carry more current and hence more magnetism. Might be interacting with your sites centre tapped tranny. Not sure.

 

[Dave OCD]

Eh ?

 

[westward10]

I cannot believe your damaged cable and the need for replacing overhead lines are remotely connected. You need to ask for a technical report outlining the cause and effect of what has supposedly occurred.

 

[paleosparky13]

Eh ?

Eddy currents?

 

[Dave OCD]

I thought they replaced the damaged underground supply which originated from an existing overhead line ?

 

[Toneyz]

That's what insurance is for.

 

[shaun rosier]

Hi Dave,

Your right! the labourer was careless but he thought he was well away from the supply as when the temporary cable was put in, it was put in a big loop for some reason and was just an inch off the foundation where he wanted to bury the hockey stick in. He was working on the premise that the cable was running in a roughly straight line from the main post to the temporary meter.

 

[Dave OCD]

Eddy currents?

Yes I know what you mean but can't see any relevance in relation to this particular tale of woe.

 

[shaun rosier]

They repaired the cable in the ground after they changed the overhead cable on the main road.

 

[Dave OCD]

Hi Dave,

Your right! the labourer was careless but he thought he was well away from the supply as when the temporary cable was put in, it was put in a big loop for some reason and was just an inch off the foundation where he wanted to bury the hockey stick in. He was working on the premise that the cable was running in a roughly straight line from the main post to the temporary meter.

Easily done, there's a defence straight away, temporary or not the cable should have been at a sensible depth and covered in warning marker tape, I'd suggest 500mm minimum.