Legal help with underground electricity cables

[Grunt0041]

I have recently started a self build and have cut through a 33000 v electricity cable, im lucky to be alive. I have had the electricity people over for the last 5 days digging the cable up as they have to replace a large section of it. They say probably 3 weeks in total and will cost me around £250,000. I have full planing permission to build on the land. We had footings in which were 1msq however the building inspector did not aprove them so we had to take them out and dig down 1.5m and this is when we hit the cable. There are 4 cables running under the proposed building site.
The engineer from the electricity board has told me that I will not be able to build on the site. I have told him to send this to me in black and white.
With regards to the legal side of this, is the building inspector supposed to request a land survey before we start digging. Im not a builder and do not have insurance for this so where do I stand, I really need some good advice.

 

[easiprint]

If I was looking at a £250,000 bill plus the prospect of not being able to build on the land I owned, I would be booking an appointment with a solicitor rather than asking on a business forum (although it is a very good business forum ).

 

[kulture]

May I suggest your first appointment is with the solicitor you used to buy the land as ask why they did not discover this problem. It seems to me that they should sort out your problem free of charge as it is possible that they have been negligent. I would also ask if you purchased the land as an individual or a company.

 

[safetynut]

An interesting post and there a number of issues a few spring to mind immediately.

Did you purchase the land with a view to building and did the solicitors involved advise accordingly on that basis.

Knowing you were going to build on the land did you arrange a ground survey in order to establish what you were up against beforehand because as land owner the responsibility would fall on yourself to deal with.

Did you use a competent contractor to dig as they should scan the ground before Breaking the surface..

What planning restrictions were stipulated as they would be interested in what the land was used for previously and your intentions regarding the construction works. This also would identify if anyone objected in your case the electricity company..

If the build is connected to a business then the scheme would be subject to the construction design and management regulations in which case certain procedures would need to be actioned.

I guess nearby premises were affected as a result of the breach of the power supply which is why a bill of 250.000 has been mentioned and if you have no insurance in place to protect you you may find yourself in an expensive position going forward..

If you need some advice PM your details..I'd be happy to help all I can..

 

[Ronnie ILAN]

I will get proper advice. I do not believe that this is anything to do with the solicitor that adviced you on the purchase and without additional detail doubt he was negligent as he did not cut the cable! There are certain duties, say, to obtain details of cables and to scan before digging. If not done, then you may have problems. The £250k sounds excessive, but you need details. Did you use reputable contractors that have insurance? Power companies normally pursue costs in such circumstances. You must scertain the facts quickly and see a solicitor to properly advice you. Best of luck.

 

[kulture]

I will get proper advice. I do not believe that this is anything to do with the solicitor that adviced you on the purchase and without additional detail doubt he was negligent as he did not cut the cable! There are certain duties, say, to obtain details of cables and to scan before digging. If not done, then you may have problems. The £250k sounds excessive, but you need details. Did you use reputable contractors that have insurance? Power companies normally pursue costs in such circumstances. You must scertain the facts quickly and see a solicitor to properly advice you. Best of luck.

I agree the cutting of the cables is nothing to do with the original solicitor. HOWEVER the land was presumably purchased for building. Planning permission was obtained for building, and the electricity company engineer says that you cannot build on this land, presumably due to the existence of the cables. Now if I purchased a building plot only to find out I was not legally permitted to build on it, then I would be asking my solicitor a few searching questions. Starting with, is the engineer correct?

 

[deniser]

To clarify, the solicitor's job is to check for easements and wayleaves which are the third party rights over the land in question. These include rights of way as well as rights to run cables and pipes over your land.

If you buy land for construction purposes then a solicitor should always do a search with all the utitlity companies (electricity, gas, water, drainage and telephone) as well as the usual conveyancing searches. These searches should bring up the presence of any pipes or cable and these need to be assessed before any decision is made to buy the land to see whether the proposed build interferes with these and whether any pipes and cables need to be rerouted.

These extra searches are not done if you are simply buying a house to live in. They are only done where the buyer intends to carry out construction. I assume you told your solicitor you intended to build on the land and didn't treat this as a normal conveyancing matter eg. where you bought a house to live in but are now building in the back garden.

So the first question would be whether these searches were done and what information they yielded.

 

[roydmoorian]

Most underground cables can be re-routed within your own curtilage.

There will be a cost, and you may need very deep pockets, but you might still end up with a building plot.

But please use a solicitor who is used to conveyancing parcels of bare land.

 

[Grunt0041]

Hi and thanks to everyone who replied.
I have not purchased the land I lease the land and have a written letter from the landlord alouwing me to build.
As I said it was a self build and no contractor was used. My insurance does not cover me for this either. When we started the build we did have a builder however he dissapeared with 5k after doing very little work so hence the reason why the self build.

 

[Grunt0041]

Just to clarify the cable that was cut powers another substation so no businesses or houses were effected, the other 3 cables also power the same substation. The cable affected has oil pumping through it to cool it down, this has now also caused an environmental issue as at least 2000 lt of oil has been spilt and the soild had to be removed due to contamination. Im off to find a solicitor this morning so will update later.