Brickwork damaged by Openreach subcontractor

[#1]

How do I make a complaint about damaged brickwork during the internal stage of full fibre upgrade installation?

Part of the brick has been blown from the inside when drilling (bit diameter too wide?).  It’s watertight and the fibre works fine but silicone has been used to fill the gap and it’s a bit of a mess.  I didn’t inspect it until he was gone and texted later, asking him to drop off a faceplate I can fit over it.  He said he would but hasn’t, despite a chaser text.

Also, should the cable be exposed or in conduit?

[#2]

@Pateraa Use the

For any damage to your property caused by Openreach

here https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/damage-health-and-safety and I suggest selecting the 'Put something right' option

[#3]

@Pateraa Bricks can crack, and I don't think it is 'too wide a bit' that has caused this. I also doubt anyone would supply a 'faceplate' to cover this - it is an unfortunate unavoidable consequence of drilling through bricks.

As to the exposed wiring - it looks as though you have an underground feed which is not quite in line with where the cable enters your property, but that is external grade cable and would not be fitted through a conduit - my overhead fed installation has exposed cable all the way from the 'dropwire' to the CSP.

[#4]

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@jab1 wrote:

@Pateraa Bricks can crack, and I don't think it is 'too wide a bit' that has caused this.

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Caused by drilling from inside - out.  Easily avoided by drilling outside - in, or through the mortar. 

[#5]

@ Pateraa I had exactly the same problem but in my case the wall is rendered and experience tells me that drilling through from the inside can be a problem. I’ve seen many instances of this where aerial and satellite cables have been installed removing large lumps of brick etc. I think the use of hammer drills are to blame.

“What you should have done” – as they !!

Being aware of this problem I held a large piece of plywood on the outside of the wall, the contractor wasn’t too keen in case he drilled into my hand – health and safety being what it is, but I insisted and all went well. The ‘burst through’ was about the size of a ten pence piece easily covered by the CSP (grey box).

Wonderful thing hindsight !!!!!

[#6]

Caused by drilling from inside - out. 

That's the way they (OR) normally do it, to avoid similar damage inside. However, they should make good and  the CSP would normally be installed over the hole. The installation pics from the OP look strange... the internal fibre should be white and covered by the CSP ?

[#7]

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@MisterW wrote:

Caused by drilling from inside - out. 

That's the way they (OR) normally do it, to avoid similar damage inside. However, they should make good ...

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Agreed, but IMO a bit of plaster or render on an inside wall is easier to patch than a damaged brick, severely in this case. 

[#8]

Thanks, Mr W, I did as you suggested and the chat recommended I email the property claims email address, which I’ve now done.

in terms of drilling, I have a wallpapered plasterboard interior wall on a timber kit building.  I would have thought it would be fairly easy to drill from both sides and feed the cable through.

[#9]

The dangers of drilling outside to inside is the drill could drift when penetrating through the brickwork and cavity wall resulting in the intended location for the cable being off target. Also many newer properties use dry lined walls throughout so extra care would be needed not to damage the plaster board, which wouldn't be such an easy job to repair.

I suspect for the OP the openreach representative was using an old drill bit and was pushing hard to compensate for the drill bit taking along time to get through to the outside.

[#10]

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@RobPN wrote:

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@jab1 wrote:

@Pateraa Bricks can crack, and I don't think it is 'too wide a bit' that has caused this.

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Caused by drilling from inside - out.  Easily avoided by drilling outside - in, or through the mortar. 

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So the bit bursts out the interior wall. Been there, done that😟

[#11]

That CSP looks like the one I've just had fitted - it seems more compact than ones I've seen before. I've got the internal stage to come soon but not sure what'll be possible as every installation seems different. 

Images of ONTs seem to show a smaller white coloured internal fibre cable.The Openreach page says "A much smaller cable will be run through the wall and attached to another box on the inside of your property" and "we'll need to drill a hole through the wall to enable us to connect the two boxes." and "This will be 12mm wide and you can tell the engineer where you'd like them to drill." I'm still hoping the fibre can follow the copper's route to avoid another hole or at least be drilled behind the CSP - copper connections always seem to be hidden behind the cover rather than visible off to one side.

[#12]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to  My Order