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 A family was happily living in a quiet residential area, and after seven years of buying the property, they decided to have some work done in their yard to control the spread of tree roots.
A “tree root barrier” contractor was hired to come in and dig trenches at various spots within the property.
As the contractor did not want to damage any of the services (water, sewer & telephone) which were on the property, he engaged a professional locater to locate these services. Having located these services, he proceeded with his excavations - until disaster struck.
What he did not know was that he had been digging alongside major communications cables, and with a slight change of direction, cut through three Optic Fibre and two large copper cables.
Why did he not know they were there? Who will have to pay for the damage? These questions now weigh heavily on the minds of the people concerned!
It is important to know that communications carriers are allowed by law, to install cables through private property, but they have to advise the property owner of their intention to do it. After some objections, maybe, and some negotiations, the work is done and the only evidence that the cable is there is a letter from the carrier to the property owner and a recording on the carrier’s plan.
Because there is no requirement to take out an easement, nothing will appear on the owner’s title deed. When the original owner sells the property, he is supposed to pass the letter on to the new owner. For several reasons, this rarely ever happens.
How then does the new owner find out if there is anything there?
When property transactions take place there are searches done for all sorts of things and often the prospective buyer is given the choice of which ones to do. Unfortunately a search for communications plant is often overlooked because people are not aware of the rules which allow the cables to be put anywhere. New or prospective owners should always include the Communication Cable search so that they know from the beginning if there are any cables to avoid if they want to do any improvements on the property.
Who will have to pay for the damage?
The person who cut the cable will get the bill, and that is the contractor. The contractor may say that the property owner should have advised him, so he is responsible. The person who was called in to locate the services may also be involved. Therefore legal costs can be added to already huge repair costs and in the end the carrier will recover costs from one or several parties.
The sad part is that this cost which will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, could have been avoided for less than $100. So that you don’t get caught the same way always ask your solicitor to do a Communication Cable search, or you can do it yourself if you are doing your own conveyancing. |
