Whoops! We didn’t know that was there. Part l.
18 July 2022
18th July 2022
And so it begins!
9 am: Large excavator enters the site from the farm track.
11.30 am: Scraping of the site has commenced. But, hang on, there is no Heras fencing around the plot. Our friend (a building site Health and Safety (H & S) consultant) assured us that they have to have the site secured by fencing before any work with an excavator, even just levelling or rubble removal work. Here is the reason why:
12.35: The digger “finds” a Live cable. High voltage. Fully exposed. No safety apparatus. Scottish Power en route. Neighbour’s son says it’s sparking about on the ground – and they started without the plans!!!
15.30: Official notification - IMPORTANT POWER CUT INFORMATION
Your power cut was caused by a blown fuse after 3rd party damage to an underground cable fault. As this was an emergency, we could not notify you in advance.
As you may be aware this did not affect every property in the local area, some of your neighbours may not have been impacted. However, those that were impacted are supplied from the Pattiesmuir Village substation.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If your power is not back on please follow the advice at this link (https://bit.ly/38zvSnV) to check your trip switches before calling us on 105.
Contractor told a neighbour he had suggested waiting and delaying a couple of weeks until plans were through - but was told no.
The moral of this story is: if there is a ground survey wait until it is to hand before you start digging. If there isn’t a survey, get one done!
