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

 

[PEG]

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!

Really? Testing after safe isolation is mandatory,and would be all the more prescient after damage.
Who exactly was he? The answer is NOT an engineer...

 

[Rpa07]

Good thread, sorry about all the grief you’ve had @shaun rosier - the original post read like the opening scene of Casualty!

 

[Wilko]

Hi - thoughts from me - I don't see you having to pay out for overhead cable works - talk to your insurance co. and they may provide legal-eagle to assist. Just having legal-eagle ask for the @westward10 technical report will cause a sharp intake of breath, because they know it will be independently reviewed.

 

[buzzlightyear]

being a TT system they would have putted the fuse at the substain or the link near the transformers before any work carried out ,by saying this did your labour not think before hand by getting a CAT. and not a cat with two eyes .

 

[shaun rosier]

Good thread, sorry about all the grief you’ve had @shaun rosier - the original post read like the opening scene of Casualty!

Ha, Ha! If you didn't laugh you'd cry!

Thanks for all the help guys! much appreciated!

 

[buzzlightyear]

Ha, Ha! If you didn't laugh you'd cry!

Thanks for all the help guys! much appreciated!

don't go yet ,we need to discus about the big bill your getting, 5 grand bill heading your way.

 

[davesparks]

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.

The labourer may have been careless but was he following the safe system of work you had put in place for him? Did you carry out a risk assessment and method statement?
Did you survey they ground he was digging in with suitable cable locating equipment before he started digging?
Did you enquire as to the location of the cable with the electricity supplier before work started?
Did you take all reasonable steps to ensure that this man’s life was not put at risk before he started work?

If he had lost his life could you honestly face his family, the judge and your conscience and say you did everything you could to prevent it?

 

[buzzlightyear]

If he had lost his life could you honestly face his family, the judge and your conscience and say you did everything you could to prevent it?

yes milord , if some one had lose their life HSE would be over it like CSI .

 

[PEG]

Yep,and book me a seat in the public gallery...i want to hear that "engineer" explaining how he "shouldn't have got a shock of that bit..." and how he never looks to the left when crossing the road,in this country...

 

[telectrix]

Yep,and book me a seat in the public gallery...i want to hear that "engineer" explaining how he "shouldn't have got a shock of that bit..." and how he never looks to the left when crossing the road,in this country...

i always look to the left, and to the right. which way is the nearest pub?

 

[littlespark]

I believe the question is “did the incident on the building site cause the damage to the suppliers cable, or was the damage there before?”

Answering this will ascertain who needs to pay for the repair job and 2 tellys.

Maybe you need to get a professional in. Ie, a lawyer.
Unfortunately questions will be asked about safe working practices, and HSE will get involved.

Hopefully no one was seriously hurt, but left undiscovered, the fault could have been catestrophic.

 

[westward10]

HSE won't get involved.

 

[buzzlightyear]

maybe jack hammer Charlie was left loose ,tight have caused a spike on the cable .the op said the cable was only grazed. but we are not there .but we can only take this word .

 

[Pete999]

Eh ?

Double Eh

 

[Pete999]

Eddy currents?

Explain please