Electricity Company Digging up Private Drive
Discussion
The balancing act here, as already noted, is that to pay for the work yourself is ruinous.
We had a 600 yard water pipe put in over private land supplying two houses - £7,000. Thames Water were not interested. The only consoling element is that a water meter would therefore be impossible (legally) to fit. I assume (!).
The downside is that utilities do like to march on land thinking they have a divine right - we also had a swathe of trees cut down for 'line clearance' without permission which led to a protracted dispute which I won.
Always a bit tricky, because if I was the utility and Mr Arsey throws a tantrum then supply disconnected and hole filled in as "It's not safe mate"
More than my jobsworth fella.
Get you electricity/water/gas from somewhere else then chum.
Just be polite and accomodating. You would not want a neighbour throwing a wobbly if your supply passed through their land and the utility was trying to fix it. After all it's a drive/road with a patch in it. So what.
More than my jobsworth fella.
Get you electricity/water/gas from somewhere else then chum.
Just be polite and accomodating. You would not want a neighbour throwing a wobbly if your supply passed through their land and the utility was trying to fix it. After all it's a drive/road with a patch in it. So what.
Spiritual_Beggar said:
They don't have power to dig into Private Roads. They need consent for that. Only public highways they can dig into, and they need to notify the council of this first.
Not true. If they have a way leave or other legal rights to access their ducts and cables, then they can access them for maintenance purposes when they see fit. In my experience, the infrastructure provider will not lay cables until they have full legal rights to maintain them.
I've just had a call from the energy company. Their representative was quite pleasant but a tad condescneding. She said yes they dug it up, as they deemed it an emergency, and that they will simply relay/backfill and guarantee their work for a truly amazing 2 years 
Since when did a drive only last 2 years
And they couldn't care less it won't match any of the rest of the drive or that it will be properly visble etc etc.......not their problem but mine......will have to go and inspect it, and see how good their workmanship is once they have finished tomorrow!
Since when did a drive only last 2 years
And they couldn't care less it won't match any of the rest of the drive or that it will be properly visble etc etc.......not their problem but mine......will have to go and inspect it, and see how good their workmanship is once they have finished tomorrow!
uuf361 said:
And they couldn't care less it won't match any of the rest of the drive or that it will be properly visble etc etc.......not their problem but mine......will have to go and inspect it, and see how good their workmanship is once they have finished tomorrow!
Well to some extent it will be hard to make brand new tarmac match the 10 year old stuff. It should however be a good quality job. But it'll never match perfectly. Unless they redo the whole drive... which seems a tad unfair on the company. It's one of the benefits of block drives. They can put the old blocks back and (so long as it doesn't sink), you'd never know.I have no idea if there is any agreement in place - I have owned the house from new so could have signed something when I bought it, but have not done so since.
I appreciate they can't make it look old, but I do have a very high standard of how it should look - so hopefully they will do a proper job.
But what's with guaranteeing for only 2 years - in theory it should last more like 20 years ?
I appreciate they can't make it look old, but I do have a very high standard of how it should look - so hopefully they will do a proper job.
But what's with guaranteeing for only 2 years - in theory it should last more like 20 years ?
apologies ,I made an error
Under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, Statutory Undertakers have a legal duty to provide a guarantee for all street works they carry out on the public highway for materials and standard of workmanship. The guarantee begins immediately after the work is permanently reinstated and runs for two years for an excavation under 1.5 meters deep and three years for excavations 1.5 meters or deeper.
As yours is private land ,looks like they are going for 2 years as well
Under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, Statutory Undertakers have a legal duty to provide a guarantee for all street works they carry out on the public highway for materials and standard of workmanship. The guarantee begins immediately after the work is permanently reinstated and runs for two years for an excavation under 1.5 meters deep and three years for excavations 1.5 meters or deeper.
As yours is private land ,looks like they are going for 2 years as well
NDA said:
The balancing act here, as already noted, is that to pay for the work yourself is ruinous.
We had a 600 yard water pipe put in over private land supplying two houses - £7,000. Thames Water were not interested. The only consoling element is that a water meter would therefore be impossible (legally) to fit. I assume (!).
The downside is that utilities do like to march on land thinking they have a divine right - we also had a swathe of trees cut down for 'line clearance' without permission which led to a protracted dispute which I won.
would have given you a choice We had a 600 yard water pipe put in over private land supplying two houses - £7,000. Thames Water were not interested. The only consoling element is that a water meter would therefore be impossible (legally) to fit. I assume (!).
The downside is that utilities do like to march on land thinking they have a divine right - we also had a swathe of trees cut down for 'line clearance' without permission which led to a protracted dispute which I won.
Power or trees ?
Trees are a right pain in the proverbial
x type said:
NDA said:
The balancing act here, as already noted, is that to pay for the work yourself is ruinous.
We had a 600 yard water pipe put in over private land supplying two houses - £7,000. Thames Water were not interested. The only consoling element is that a water meter would therefore be impossible (legally) to fit. I assume (!).
The downside is that utilities do like to march on land thinking they have a divine right - we also had a swathe of trees cut down for 'line clearance' without permission which led to a protracted dispute which I won.
would have given you a choice We had a 600 yard water pipe put in over private land supplying two houses - £7,000. Thames Water were not interested. The only consoling element is that a water meter would therefore be impossible (legally) to fit. I assume (!).
The downside is that utilities do like to march on land thinking they have a divine right - we also had a swathe of trees cut down for 'line clearance' without permission which led to a protracted dispute which I won.
Power or trees ?
Trees are a right pain in the proverbial
AstonZagato said:
I had this recently - an electricity company dug up my driveway. Didn't ask permission and I was concerned. I went and had a jovial word with the workmen. They repaired it to a high standard. I was happy.
Ditto. I come home one night to find three men in reflective jackets digging my front garden up. Floodlights blazing, generator banging away, 2 foot craters in my borders. Turns out that the next door neighbour had lost his electric, and they traced it to a problem in my garden close to the border.
I wasn't too impressed that they had decided to dig up my garden without my permission, and they could not offer an explanation as to why the power supply to his house ran across my land, which I believe that it shouldn't. I am still awaiting a letter back from the electric company regarding this.
Anyway, it was sorted in 2 hours, and everything was put back as it was found to the last stone and the sweeping of the path. I was expecting a mess and an argument but was pleasantly surprised to find it immaculate like they actually took pride in doing a good job...
So luckily I had no need to complain or seek compensation for putting the damage right luckily.
bazking69 said:
and they could not offer an explanation as to why the power supply to his house ran across my land, which I believe that it shouldn't. I am still awaiting a letter back from the electric company regarding this.
That's easy to explain. When the properties were built the builder's agreed with the energy provider that was the route of the cables. One would have to assume that all the legal paperwork was done as utility companies don't do squat until the legal is sorted. Unless you built the property, then you'll have to, blunty, lump it. That said, it could have been put in the wrong place during installation but, again, this is something you've had no input on. If it has been put in the wrong place then you'll have some legal wrangling ahead - if it really bothers you that much.I would say that it's up to you to demonstrate it's in the wrong place through researching your deeds rather than the electric company. Again assuming that you didn't build the house.
mk1fan said:
bazking69 said:
and they could not offer an explanation as to why the power supply to his house ran across my land, which I believe that it shouldn't. I am still awaiting a letter back from the electric company regarding this.
That's easy to explain. When the properties were built the builder's agreed with the energy provider that was the route of the cables. One would have to assume that all the legal paperwork was done as utility companies don't do squat until the legal is sorted. Unless you built the property, then you'll have to, blunty, lump it. That said, it could have been put in the wrong place during installation but, again, this is something you've had no input on. If it has been put in the wrong place then you'll have some legal wrangling ahead - if it really bothers you that much.I would say that it's up to you to demonstrate it's in the wrong place through researching your deeds rather than the electric company. Again assuming that you didn't build the house.
Even if they were in the wrong, the hassle to put it right, considering it causes me zero hassle, touch wood, isn't worth it.
I was just a bit miffed because they can come onto my land and dig up my garden without my permission, presuming they can (another question I am waiting for them to give a definitive answer on). Luckily in this instance they did an impecible job and the area in question was an area of baron soil anyway, but what if they had had to get the pneumatic drill out and start taking up concrete paths and destroying my property to sort someone elses problem...
bazking69 said:
........but what if they had had to get the pneumatic drill out and start taking up concrete paths and destroying my property to sort someone elses problem...
I think that's an interesting point. The examples on here have all been only mildly inconvenient and it has been assumed the utility companies have rights of some sort. How far do those rights stretch I wonder?!Well, look at it another way. If you have a fault with your supply and it fails, you would see it as an emergency to get it reinstated. Now, how would you react if the supplier turned round and said that the earliest they can start will be in 3-months time because they need to organise numerous private permissions?
All the access permissions are resolved before the utility companies begin laying new service runs. So unless you're building from scratch there's nothing you can do about it.
Baz, again you'll have to check your deeds to ascertain what has been agreed. But again, there's nothing you can do to change it - unless you want to pay for it to be diverted.
The privilege to enter your land does come with the responsibility to make good so there's no reasonable arguement against their right of entry.
All the access permissions are resolved before the utility companies begin laying new service runs. So unless you're building from scratch there's nothing you can do about it.
Baz, again you'll have to check your deeds to ascertain what has been agreed. But again, there's nothing you can do to change it - unless you want to pay for it to be diverted.
The privilege to enter your land does come with the responsibility to make good so there's no reasonable arguement against their right of entry.
Edited by mk1fan on Friday 24th April 17:33
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff