Is the joiner to blame

France1856

A joiner was fitting my flooring he was putting on the beading using a nail gun 
we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)although the joiner knew they were there we bought a new tv recently which when putting in the HDMI cable blew my tv and caused an electric current and when we checked all our wiring we have noticed the he’s pierced the wires which could have caused a fire can we hold him responsible ????

kayleighali

Can you prove that the joiner knew exactly where they were?

Aylesbury_Duck

France1856 said:

A joiner was fitting my flooring he was putting on the beading using a nail gun 
we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)although the joiner knew they were there we bought a new tv recently which when putting in the HDMI cable blew my tv and caused an electric current and when we checked all our wiring we have noticed the he’s pierced the wires which could have caused a fire can we hold him responsible ????

This sounds similar to a recent thread where someone had employed a gardener who cut through a power cable that the homeowner had carelessly laid across their lawn to feed a hot tub, causing electrical damage (and thankfully no personal injury).  The consensus seemed to be that the homeowner bore much of the responsibility.

In this case there was no fire or personal injury thankfully, otherwise you could be in trouble.  As I see it, it's your home and you have a duty to make sure it's reasonably safe for tradespeople to work in.  Laying power cables(?) behind skirting is definitely your mistake, and ignorance of the regulations isn't a defence.  How did the joiner know the wires were there?  It seems implausible that you told him there were wires there and he got the nail gun out, anyway, but I guess all sorts of these things happen.

What's your loss?  The TV and wiring?

prettyandfluffy

Irrespective of who is to blame if there had been a fire/injury or death, you would be liable.  

MattMattMattUK

France1856 said:

A joiner was fitting my flooring he was putting on the beading using a nail gun 
we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)although the joiner knew they were there we bought a new tv recently which when putting in the HDMI cable blew my tv and caused an electric current and when we checked all our wiring we have noticed the he’s pierced the wires which could have caused a fire can we hold him responsible ????

That chain of events makes no sense, unless he somehow managed to establish a circuit between an HDMI cable and a power cable that were both behind the skirting board and then when you plugged in the cable it put mains power through the HDMI port into the TV, but that has odds so long as to be improbably, even more so when one accounts for RCDs in modern electrical consumer panels. 

Aylesbury_Duck

MattMattMattUK said:

France1856 said:

A joiner was fitting my flooring he was putting on the beading using a nail gun 
we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)although the joiner knew they were there we bought a new tv recently which when putting in the HDMI cable blew my tv and caused an electric current and when we checked all our wiring we have noticed the he’s pierced the wires which could have caused a fire can we hold him responsible ????

That chain of events makes no sense, unless he somehow managed to establish a circuit between an HDMI cable and a power cable that were both behind the skirting board and then when you plugged in the cable it put mains power through the HDMI port into the TV, but that has odds so long as to be improbably, even more so when one accounts for RCDs in modern electrical consumer panels. 

That was my thought, but OP's account is a little vague and they're clearly not electrically trained so we're guessing, really.

pinkshoes

France1856 said:

A joiner was fitting my flooring he was putting on the beading using a nail gun 
we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)although the joiner knew they were there we bought a new tv recently which when putting in the HDMI cable blew my tv and caused an electric current and when we checked all our wiring we have noticed the he’s pierced the wires which could have caused a fire can we hold him responsible ????

HOW did the joiner know they were there? What sort of wires??

The joiner clearly didn't know they were there if he was using a nail gun through the skirting board!!

It's your responsibility to make sure your house meets all regulations. If you knew the wiring did not meet regulations then you should have changed it before instructing someone to work in that area. Admitting this isn't going to do you any favours, and could get you in a LOT of trouble!

Just letting a joiner know about some wires isn't acceptable. If the joiner had been electrocuted then they would have been suing you!

To answer your question - there was no fire, and the only person to take responsibility for this is you I'm afraid. I'd employ an electrician to sort your wiring out. 

France1856

The joiner clearly did know they were there as he had a 
discussion with us about them at that moment in time we didn’t know the regulations about the wires not going behind the skirting we only know now as we’ve looked into it 
He actually cut out a small part of the beading for the wires 

Aylesbury_Duck

France1856 said:

The joiner clearly did know they were there as he had a 
discussion with us about them at that moment in time we didn’t know the regulations about the wires not going behind the skirting we only know now as we’ve looked into it 
He actually cut out a small part of the beading for the wires 

A "discussion"?  What exactly was pointed out or explained?

At the end of the day, assuming he doesn't admit liability (and he'd be daft to do so) then all you can do is sue him for whatever loss you've suffered (not what might have happened) and a court will decide if you were negligent, he was, or both of you were.  On the strength of your account, I don't fancy your chances.  Routing power cables in an unregulated way is very much your problem, no matter how well you may have pointed it out.  The whole point about such regulations is that mistakes/lapses/forgetfulness etc. don't result in danger.

eskbanker

France1856 said:

we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)

pinkshoes said:
What sort of wires??

OP, you didn't answer this - are you talking about mains electricity or just HDMI cables, etc?  I presume the former (in which case it might be worth discussing the issue with whoever put them there originally) but worth clarifying....

sheramber

eskbanker said:

France1856 said:

we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations)

pinkshoes said:
What sort of wires??

OP, you didn't answer this - are you talking about mains electricity or just HDMI cables, etc?  I presume the former (in which case it might be worth discussing the issue with whoever put them there originally) but worth clarifying....

we had wires behind our skirting (which we put there not knowing that it goes against regulations

Sounds like it was the OP who put them there.