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

 

[westward10]

Don't pay a bean until you have a technical report which you can then pass on to an electrical engineer, not an electrician.

 

[paleosparky13]

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

I don't believe eddy currents actually exist in reality. But I doubt a distribution network would take those chances. Covering their asses. Is our our infrastructure effecting their site or are they at faukt?

 

[paleosparky13]

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

I don't believe eddy currents actually exist in reality. But I doubt a distribution network would take those chances. Covering their asses. Is our our infrastructure effecting their site or are they at faukt?

 

[shaun rosier]

why would the engineer get a shock, the cabin get lived up and the TV's blow down the lane?

Surely something was wrong with the cable! that can't be normal?

 

[westward10]

It is impossible to speculate you need to ask for a technical report which you can forward for further guidance. Asking for this and stating why you require it may well throw them.

 

[Toneyz]

Was it a PME supply to the office, canteen etc. if you had a loss of neutral?

 

[shaun rosier]

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.

Hi Westward,

We did ask for a report and they said they would not give one unless we signed a confidentiality agreement! That's why I'm even more suspicious that the cable was faulty!!

 

[shaun rosier]

Was it a PME supply to the office, canteen etc. if you had a loss of neutral?

Sorry Anthony! I don't know what a PME supply is! The temporary supply came to the temporay meter and then was taken off this to supply our canteen/office. After the damage to the cable the labourer got a shock off the cabin handle!

 

[The Ghost]

Have you asked about this on the IET site, more engineers on there may help? The DNO is responsible for the supply and infrastructure of your supply. Sounds like this will involve solicitors. Of course you could make a counter claim for loss of work time and damages for employees etc.

 

[Toneyz]

Sorry Anthony! I don't know what a PME supply is! The temporary supply came to the temporay meter and then was taken off this to supply our canteen/office. After the damage to the cable the labourer got a shock off the cabin handle!

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.

 

[shaun rosier]

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.

Yes I remember our sparky telling me about this type of cable, so I think it was a PME supply.

 

[shaun rosier]

Have you asked about this on the IET site, more engineers on there may help? The DNO is responsible for the supply and infrastructure of your supply. Sounds like this will involve solicitors. Of course you could make a counter claim for loss of work time and damages for employees etc.

Thanks for the advice Vortigern!

 

[LankyWill]

DNO will only install a temporary supply using TT, they insist on having the Earth Rod in place or they won’t connect meters.

 

[Richard Burns]

No matter what happened to the incoming cable at your temporary supply the electrical supply network should be able to handle any fault that occurs without causing damage to their system.
If the fault caused damage to their network then this would only be highlighting an error in their network which should not be down to you to cover.
Damaging a supply cable in the manner you describe should not cause a bang as the fault would be to earth and not the conductors, unless it earthed via the breaker if it was electrical. If the damage were such that the cable sheath contacted the internal live this would cause a short and a bang and may well disconnect several properties power supplies as it takes out the supply fuse(s) and this would be chargeable to the person or company responsible for the fault.
However I do not know the legalities of such a situation.

 

[shaun rosier]

No matter what happened to the incoming cable at your temporary supply the electrical supply network should be able to handle any fault that occurs without causing damage to their system.
If the fault caused damage to their network then this would only be highlighting an error in their network which should not be down to you to cover.
Damaging a supply cable in the manner you describe should not cause a bang as the fault would be to earth and not the conductors, unless it earthed via the breaker if it was electrical. If the damage were such that the cable sheath contacted the internal live this would cause a short and a bang and may well disconnect several properties power supplies as it takes out the supply fuse(s) and this would be chargeable to the person or company responsible for the fault.
However I do not know the legalities of such a situation.

No matter what happened to the incoming cable at your temporary supply the electrical supply network should be able to handle any fault that occurs without causing damage to their system.
If the fault caused damage to their network then this would only be highlighting an error in their network which should not be down to you to cover.
Damaging a supply cable in the manner you describe should not cause a bang as the fault would be to earth and not the conductors, unless it earthed via the breaker if it was electrical. If the damage were such that the cable sheath contacted the internal live this would cause a short and a bang and may well disconnect several properties power supplies as it takes out the supply fuse(s) and this would be chargeable to the person or company responsible for the fault.
However I do not know the legalities of such a situation.

That's exactly what I thought Richard, sounds like they are trying to blame me for a fault in there network! The engineer got a shock when he touched the outer sheathing wires as he took his gloves off, he obviously wasn't expecting them to be live!