New Build - Extra Cabling Negotiation?

HouseMoo

Hello all, I have finally reserved a plot on a 4 bed new build which is very exciting, and now in process of sorting out all of the finer details!!

I am meeting up with their sales advisor to go over all the "extras" tomorrow, however I wanted to ask if anyone else here has had any experience with additional cabling. The developer is Persimmon and the development is reasonably large.

Ideally I would like network cabling (Cat 7a/Class F copper) installed with four points from the study going to: living room / dining area / bedroom 1 and 4 (going right next to all the phone cables agreed). They have previously said that they do not offer any network cable packages themselves.

Of course the best time to add any additional cables is when the walls are still "open" before they've been wired / plastered. So I am happy to buy the reel of cable myself and see if I can get the electrician to install them during the build. The question is will the developer let me?

I know they can treat new builds as a production line, and any extras not on their lists are not allowed, even if it is a fairly simple addition (e.g. if they are laying telephone cable, surely just laying this alongside isn't too much extra work - I can sort out the endpoints if need be). Doing this work when everything is plastered / complete on the other hand would be far more hassle / expensive.

So was just asking out there if anyone has been successful in a similar situation, and if so how did they go about it. The favourite word of most new build sales teams I have encountered is "thats not possible", and of course there is not usually a direct route to contact the electrician without going "Sales->Site Manager->Electrician".

Or is the more realistic scenario going to be convincing them to run string alongside all the telephone cables, and use that to pull all the cables down myself after completion? If anyone has any similar success stories I would be interested to hear!

- HouseMoo :www:

P.S - I'm a software developer and tech enthusiast hence the interest in this, and although I realise WiFi is quite good nowadays, I always prefer fixed cabling whereever possible for reliability.

martinsurrey

HouseMoo wrote: »

I know they can treat new builds as a production line, and any extras not on their lists are not allowed, even if it is a fairly simple addition (e.g. if they are laying telephone cable, surely just laying this alongside isn't too much extra work - I can sort out the endpoints if need be).

It IS a production line, and they have no design for the extra cables, the contracts with their electrical subcontractors include certain elements, and variations are a pain in the rear especially for something complexly new, they have no system in place to test these additions, but if they provide them they will be covered by their warranties.

It’s just not going to happen unless they offer it.

DuncanCat

Just to add some amusement!

About ten years ago a friend got the developer to agree that he could install network cables himself once he had exchanged and before the plaster board etc went up. This he duly did, but no one updated the plasterers instructions/plans.

When the plasterboard went up, they cut out spaces forsockets/switches etc but very helpfully boarded over the network cables!

HARSA

martinsurrey wrote: »

It IS a production line, and they have no design for the extra cables, the contracts with their electrical subcontractors include certain elements, and variations are a pain in the rear especially for something complexly new, they have no system in place to test these additions, but if they provide them they will be covered by their warranties.

It’s just not going to happen unless they offer it.

This is not the case in all new build development. A guy at work is buying a new built and managed get them to lay the cabling for him. He bought speaker. Cat, satellite cables and they charged him a bit to run the cables for him. I think he arranged this with the foreman rather than the sales reps who are bound to refuse.. My house is a new build well almost 10 years old and I just paid an electrician to run cat 5, telephone and satellite cables to every room. I paid him a grand for this and other jobs he did for me at the same time. There are very few cabling you can see in my house

martinsurrey

HARSA wrote: »

This is not the case in all new build development. A guy at work is buying a new built and managed get them to lay the cabling for him. He bought speaker. Cat, satellite cables and they charged him a bit to run the cables for him. I think he arranged this with the foreman rather than the sales reps who are bound to refuse.. My house is a new build well almost 10 years old and I just paid an electrician to run cat 5, telephone and satellite cables to every room. I paid him a grand for this and other jobs he did for me at the same time. There are very few cabling you can see in my house

It is the case with big developers like Persimmon (to the best of my knowledge).

The site manager has no ability to alter contracts with the subcontractors, these are dealt with by the commercial executive back at head office, and getting all of the relevant peoples contracts changed will be a pain, for example, there may be new trucking required (the phone cable might not run from room to room as required), so thats the chippy’s contract changed, then the electrician, then the dry liners (more holes to cut out), then the plasterer, then the painter and decorator.

The larger the site the more segregated the activities, and so it becomes MUCH harder to change anything.

and yes everyone contract is based on agreed layouts, with full electrical/plumbing detials shown.

HARSA

martinsurrey wrote: »

It is the case with big developers like Persimmon (to the best of my knowledge).

The site manager has no ability to alter contracts with the subcontractors, these are dealt with by the commercial executive back at head office, and getting all of the relevant peoples contracts changed will be a pain, for example, there may be new trucking required (the phone cable might not run from room to room as required), so thats the chippy’s contract changed, then the electrician, then the dry liners (more holes to cut out), then the plasterer, then the painter and decorator.

The larger the site the more segregated the activities, and so it becomes MUCH harder to change anything.

and yes everyone contract is based on agreed layouts, with full electrical/plumbing detials shown.

Well the guy is buying from a big developer in Wolverhampton and they have agreed to lay down his cables for him.

The electrician who laid my cables did it very little ease. From my loft down to every room. The phone was taken from my bedroom into my loft. I then set up my Internet router up there and use a switch to run down to every room. The sane was done for the satellite cables..
You may find it cheaper to get some one in when you got the keys and do it before you move in. Also if required you can always get a plasterer.

scottishblondie

I got CAT 5e to 7 rooms in my new build house - not Persimmon though. It cost me £385. I had initially asked for a higher spec cable but they wanted about 5 times more money and refused to allow me to supply my own reels of cable.

Also, they did a pretty poor job of it. We had to go around and rewire all the points to get it up to gigabit speeds. So if you do get it in, test the wiring carefully!

HARSA

scottishblondie wrote: »

I got CAT 5e to 7 rooms in my new build house - not Persimmon though. It cost me £385. I had initially asked for a higher spec cable but they wanted about 5 times more money and refused to allow me to supply my own reels of cable.

Also, they did a pretty poor job of it. We had to go around and rewire all the points to get it up to gigabit speeds. So if you do get it in, test the wiring carefully!

I personally wouldn't trust them to do it. I will arrange it afterwards and before I move in

scottishblondie

HARSA wrote: »

I personally wouldn't trust them to do it. I will arrange it afterwards and before I move in

Even with the hassle of rewiring the points, I'm glad I got them to do it before the plasterboard went up. I wouldn't have done it afterwards, as putting in all the cabling I wanted throughout a 3 storey house would have been impossible without having to repair a lot of walls!

HARSA

scottishblondie wrote: »

Even with the hassle of rewiring the points, I'm glad I got them to do it before the plasterboard went up. I wouldn't have done it afterwards, as putting in all the cabling I wanted throughout a 3 storey house would have been impossible without having to repair a lot of walls!

Thanks
True. But the guy who did it for me was that good that he did not have to knock down or damage any plaster boards. For the electrics he ran it up from the switch board up and into my bedroom wardrobe. The same for the phone line. Once up into the loft he basically fed all the wires into each room using a long hook. When it got to the rooms he simply cut up the points and fitted the sockets

littlesparkles

Try to get to speak to the site manager rather than the sales rep. I've just bought a new build and I hinted to the site manager that I would like a light and sockets in the garage (not standard for my house type and not available as an extra from the list). He just asked the electrician to do it. Free! I happened to see him on site which is when I hinted but my reservation pack included his site phone number so I could have phoned.