Moving Overhead Cable, help!!!

iniltous

Am I right in thinking the 'line' in question isnt for your own use but someone else, and the service to them crosses your land and this wasnt a problem until you wanted to build an extension ?, if this cable was 'bounced' off your (unextended) property to service someone else then a wayleave should have been obtained by BT at the time the wire went up, if it just crosses your land then BT didnt need permission ( flying wires act ) It will be a gray area if you want to extend and the wire is in the way. If a wayleave was obtained by BT, you can cancel it, but have to give BT notice,
I dont think BT can make you pay to move someone elses service, it would be different if it were your own service, imagine if the other persons line went faulty and BT needed access and you refused to allow them onto your land , what would they do then ?
You should get a openreach survey officer or a planner to site who should know the rules, they may ask ( if possible) to attach/reattach
the wire to your extension and you may get a wayleave payment, the problem may be the rules for overhead service have changed over
the years and what was allowed years ago may not be allowed now, and strange as it may seem if the wire is taken down it may not
be possible to put it back as it was

mrtom21

It's pretty straight forward really... You buy a house in a particular condition... for example with a bt line going above... you plan on extending unfortunately you have to pay for it. If you really want the extention you have no choice. I don't see any other route to go down on this one...

Jemma-T

If the cable's been there for years quite happily then it has every right to be there. If you found a gas pipe you'd not just smash it to pieces were it in the way of a new foundation for a garage or something. You must act reasonably.

I still have no exact idea what the OP's problem is but as I said if it can be moved then do it yourself. As for it being 'illegal' that would apply were it the government owned BT and it is not. I don't think the courts would deem a private company as a "legal authority" although I'm sure OpenReach and the English water companies would love to think they were.

Either get OpenReach to do it or sort it yourself.

cajef

Jemma-T wrote: »

or sort it yourself.

Stop giving people advice that could lead to problems, the line up to the master socket is BT property and they have the right to suspend someones service or charge people for future work that may be necessary to rectify any faults caused if the line is damaged or changed by anyone other than an authorised person, and as the OP has found it does not come cheap.

How would you react if someone came and changed something that belonged to you without your permission.:rolleyes:

spike7451

Jemma-T wrote: »

If the cable's been there for years quite happily then it has every right to be there. If you found a gas pipe you'd not just smash it to pieces were it in the way of a new foundation for a garage or something. You must act reasonably.

I still have no exact idea what the OP's problem is but as I said if it can be moved then do it yourself. As for it being 'illegal' that would apply were it the government owned BT and it is not. I don't think the courts would deem a private company as a "legal authority" although I'm sure OpenReach and the English water companies would love to think they were.

Either get OpenReach to do it or sort it yourself.

!!!!!!,This is'nt like wiring a plug! Imgine that in the process of taking your shoddy advice,an unqualified diy idiot did just that! Got a set of ladders & disconnected the wire.
Now imagine your gran is lying on the floor a couple of houses away dying & gramps cant get thru to the emergency services because said idiot,while removing the line knocked theirs off as well as it's a shared line.
How would you feel then?
I suggest you stick to things you know about because you clearly know nothing about this!

Jemma-T

As I said originally -get an engineer to do it. Plenty of perfectly qualified local engineers could do this at a fraction of the price of the monopoly BT.

And the OP is an adult and can decide for himself.

macman

But any qualified engineer will refuse to do this, as he will know that is Openreach's responsibilty and property.

spike7451

Jemma-T wrote: »

As I said originally -get an engineer to do it. Plenty of perfectly qualified local engineers could do this at a fraction of the price of the monopoly BT.

And the OP is an adult and can decide for himself.

Wrong! The only people qualified to work on the poles are BT engineers or their contractors!Anyone else attempting to do this work risks prosecution under The Telecommunication Act 1984.
Your local spark can wire in master sockets & extensions (often wrongly!) but cannot wire in drop wires nor do they have access to the flooded drop cable used on external work.

Heinz

Can we put this into perspective?

The architect or whoever drew up the plans appears to have failed to take into account the need to have the wire moved. He/she must therefore assume some responsibiliy. Sue him/her for the cost?

Alternatively, the cost of the extension must be £10k at the very least so paying Openreach a few hundred to move the wire is a drop in the ocean.

Jemma-T

Architect? I don't think the OP's said very much on this matter. Maybe he did the sketches too as there's no requirement to be a 'professional' to submit drawings for a building warrant and/or planning permission.

I don't know why people have gotten so het up over my "engineer" comment as we don't really know what's needing done. It could be simple and quoting the law is a bit previous until we get more info.

Can we have some photos?