City Fibre installed fibre in private owned flats building with no permission

Kairi1844

I am an owner of my flat and live there in a block of 6, all us owners are also the management company for the building. A new tenant in flat 5 wanted sky, older gent who just wanted some internet, sky have them passed his info to city fibre who have them helped themselves to coming and installing fibre in the whole building and above everyone's front doors. No permission from any owners, not even the owner of number 5. The Tennant had no idea it was happening he just got told he was being connected on the 21st, the contractors came yesterday and by the time I got home it was done. 
I have tried contacting the contractors business to get documents from them as we are now without an documentation for the work, leaving us in a bad situation in the event of a fire in the hallway as our insurance would be void as we have work here now we know nothing about and have nothing to show for legally wise. 
I don't blame the contractors, they are third party, I blame sky and city fibre for having no due process to check and get authorization to even come here in the first place, let alone drill into our walls and install something no one knew about.
Also it says on city fibres own website if you rent your need your landlords permission for installation, so that didn't even happen as the Tennant had no clue himself and the landlord was not contacted. 
I have raised a complaint with city and fibre but they are saying ten days for a resolution, but we now have the work done and again no paperwork to cover our own backs. They have caused such an issue that now I need to spend my time resolving, over work they were not permitted to do in the first place. 
Any suggestions would be great. 

Olinda99

What do you want as a resolution? 

If they supply the missing documentation would that be something you would be happy with?

Otherwise are you asking them to rip the whole lot as they did not have permission?

iniltous

There is no missing paperwork that City Fibre can supply , if  they never asked for permission to install on or in private property, how can this simply be a case of missing documents ?.

 As far as resolution , that’s up to the flat owners/members of the management company (the 6 individual flat owners )  ripping out the newly installed FTTP infrastructure and restoring the fabric of the building to how it was prior to CF uninvited installation may seem extreme, given that FTTP may in itself be desirable, but as far as showing City Fibre they don’t have the right to trespass and ‘damage’ private property I’d be open (in that situation) to ‘cutting my nose off to spite my face’ .
 FWIW , personally I’d not blame Sky , CF said the property was ready for service not Sky  , and the tenant had no right to order service from anyone without consultation with their landlord ( presumably one of the 6 flat owners ) ,but they ordered with Sky anyway , if this tenant had made representations to their landlord and was told  ‘No’ , then perhaps this may never have taken place or  CF had never classed the building as serviceable ( before they had provided any infrastructure) then Sky wouldn’t have been able to raise an order even if the tenant had enquired so I’d suggest this isn’t really Sky’s fault any and every ISP would assume the suppliers they use are not lawless cowboys 

matelodave

i dont really think that this situation can be resolved by well meaning opinions from others on the forum.

If you really think this is a situation worthy of the time, effort and expense, because you weren't consulted, then you really need to see a solicitor to see where you stand legally and what remedies may be available to you.

iniltous

matelodave said:

i dont really think that this situation can be resolved by well meaning opinions from others on the forum.

If you really think this is a situation worthy of the time, effort and expense, because you weren't consulted, then you really need to see a solicitor to see where you stand legally and what remedies may be available to you.

Would you be so relaxed if a company attached something without permission to your home  ?

matelodave

iniltous said:

matelodave said:

i dont really think that this situation can be resolved by well meaning opinions from others on the forum.

If you really think this is a situation worthy of the time, effort and expense, because you weren't consulted, then you really need to see a solicitor to see where you stand legally and what remedies may be available to you.

Would you be so relaxed if a company attached something without permission to your home  ?

I dont know - but I'd weigh up the consequences of whether there was an advantage, irritation or damage and act appropriately. I'd probably be pretty irritated if I came home and found cables nailed across the front of my house but really incandescent if the drive had been dug up, especially to provide services to someone else.

In some ways this situation can be any of those

1 - an advantage as all of the flats probably now have the opportunity to get a full fibre connection - that may well apply to a terrace of houses as well

2 - an irritation because I hadn't been consulted or it looks unsightly

3 - they caused damage by drilling holes or digging up the drive or flower bed

All of these may have a different remedy (apology, compensation or reinstatement) but in the end if you cant come to an agreement with the perpetrator then you have to get legal advice which really isn't the domain of this thread.

Interestingly my mate who lives in a small block had OR requesting permission to instal fibre in the block a couple of years ago as one of the owners wanted it.
There was a full meeting of "committee" who decided against it so no one got fibre and AFAIK they still don't have it as one or two are still blocking it, basically because they can.

Kairi1844

Hi all,
The missing paperwork is what I need for insurnsce purposes in the event of a fire in the building now, as we have nothing regarding the install or the company's insurance details who did the work should we need it. Could you imagine our insurance in the event of a fire asking us and us saying oh we don't even know who they were or what they installed? 
So the paperwork is my main priority right now as the work is up and has been done.
They have also cost her for a call out with our fire alarm system as their drilling caused a fault and we now have an invoice to pay for that call out and fix. They also caused us a power issue and we had no lockable front door to the building due to this from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. 
They have caused a headache and no it is not the tenants fault as I explained he wasn't told fibre was needed and had no clue. 
They had no permission rom the landlord of that flat and none from any others regarding fitting it above all our doors in the communal hallway, which we manage as a management company ourselves as owners.
I have spoken to solicitors but of course it might not be worth paying them for what the outcome could be. 
I am however now chasing the contractors company to pay the amount we have had to pay for the call out and fix on the fire alarm system they faulted with their work, if they do not pay this then as a management company we will take them to small claims over it most likely. 

Kairi1844

Also the fibre would be an advantage however city fibre is only limited to sky and Vodafone and talk talk, we are with BT so only an advantage to anyone on those networks. I worry is in the future also new tenants are going to now order internet and more companies will come to install their fibre too and soon the hallway will be full of fibre wires because for some reason these companies aren't seeking proper authorization to come and carry out these works with the owners of the building themselves.

noitsnotme

It’s fibre optic cable, there is no risk of it starting a fire as it transmits light, not electrical signals.

littleboo

noitsnotme said:

It’s fibre optic cable, there is no risk of it starting a fire as it transmits light, not electrical signals.

Perhaps not a risk of starting a fire, but a risk of helping a fire spread if fire stops have been breached etc. There are also risks of cables over doorways blocking exits when the fixings melt.

matelodave

littleboo said:

noitsnotme said:

It’s fibre optic cable, there is no risk of it starting a fire as it transmits light, not electrical signals.

Perhaps not a risk of starting a fire, but a risk of helping a fire spread if fire stops have been breached etc. There are also risks of cables over doorways blocking exits when the fixings melt.

Oh dear, a doom and gloom merchant. No wonder we are all getting paranoid.