Overhead cables regulations BT?

[Lizard]

Dear all,
I am new to this forum so sorry if posted in the wrong place.

I have a query about overhead cables access to properties.... well let me explain.

The neighbours asked BT to come round and install something for them. The only things was they cut the wire from the telegraph pole and reattached it closer to my property wall!!. This means more visual interference but also I am not happy that it is connected to the wall so close to our house. Is there no regulation saying that overhead cables should be at least a meter away from the neighbours property????

Not sure but hope someone can help on this.
Happy New Year

[Welshchris]

id contact the local council they would be able to point in the right direction.

[Lizard]

Great thanks. I seem to find nothing so far on internet sites so will give it a try :)

[Welshchris]

i know they have to be above a certain height, not sure about anything else.

[PS1]

As mentioned, height restrictions, 5.2, 5.5 and 5.9 meters(above a normal road), as for positon on property,as long as it doesnt impede any thing of yours, for instance, if its that close to your property and the pole is quite far away,the angle could be such that the drop wire could get in the way of you opening upstairs windows fully. This would not be allowed.

[Lizard]

Great I really appreciate all of this. I need to know what my rights are as I would like to complain. The engineer was such an ars* that he came round and said to stop arguing with him!!!! I want I just wanted to say I dont agree and can he put it right. Then he said if I wanted it moved I would have to pay well no I didnt ask for it to be there in the first place ;(

It is not the easiest thing to do to find out what is right and wrong about this one and it doesnt help when the response from BT is so cold. Thanks for the input ;)

[Kymmy]

Here's the relevant paragraph of the telecommunications act

10. (1) Subject to paragraph 3 above and the following provisions of this code, where any electronic communications apparatus is kept installed on or over any land for the purposes of the operator’s network, the operator shall, for the statutory purposes, have the right to install and keep installed lines which—

(a) pass over other land adjacent to or in the vicinity of the land on or over which that apparatus is so kept;

(b) are connected to that apparatus; and

(c) are not at any point in the course of passing over the other land less than 3 metres above the ground or within 2 metres of any building over which they pass.




(2) Nothing in sub-paragraph (1) above shall authorise the installation or keeping on or over any land of—

(a) any electronic communications apparatus used to support, carry or suspend a line installed in pursuance of that sub-paragraph; or

(b) any line which by reason of its position interferes with the carrying on of any business carried on on that land.



Which basically means that they have the right to go over the top of your land as long as they keep to a minimum of 3 meters and if it passes over a building it must clear the building by 2 meters.. There's nothing regarding 1 meter from a property which I believe is local planning laws concerning line of light so that buildings can't blot light out of a window and will not cover telephone wires which instead is covered by this quoted act..

So in short there's nothing you can do about it... Even if you wanted to pay for the lines to be removed the neighbour is the one in control of whether they do that or not... When you bought the property you bought the land with limited rights to the airspace above the land...

[Lizard]

Really interesting info thanks.

I am suprised that there is no law that says fixing the phone line to the neighbours wall box on their outside wall that there should not have a distance restriction from house to house!!!!

for example 1 meter minumum distance to fix an outside phone line to the exterior wall from the border of the next property...

sorry forgot to add I am talking about a semi detached house here. Normally the phone lines go from the pilon to the outside corner of each semi so normally never crossing any of the neighbours.

What they have done now is fix the neighbours line in the centre of the semi detached house. The pylon is on the left and our semi on the left. The neighbour is on the right of the semi so the line now passes closer to our house and less than a metre distance from the property lengthwise not heightwise and more of a pain.

Guess it is an individual case thing then rather than regulatory issue :dunce:

---------- Post added at 15:55 ---------- Previous post was at 15:49 ----------

I think that being min one metre distance will eleviate obstrucion. I know it sounds silly at the beginning that I am complaining about 50cm distance on their house but the line crosses ours before their house. Our neighbours are great and agree with us. The problem is the company doesnt .... if that helps

[PS1]

if it really does bother you that much, and like you say, your neighbour agrees with what you are saying then you could "pay" bt and they ll move it to where ever you want(as long as its possible).i suspect when the line was recently connected, the old wire may of been faulty and so when replacing it ,the engineer put the new one up at the nearest point to save work,less of a lead in for him to tack rather than the overhead work itself.

[Paul K]

You need to take it up with BTs' Wayleave department but unless they are breaking any rules you may have issues getting it shifted, there may be a reason that it is sited there.

[Lizard]

Yeah thanks for that. The lines are old and suspect that is the case. The neighbours agree that it has been put in a funny place and neither of us want to pay for something the company should have done right in the first place.

This is all very interesting and certainly opened my eyes to the "cable" world. Very interesting.... Thanks for all info mentioned above.

[Chris]

This is all very interesting and certainly opened my eyes to the "cable" world. Very interesting.... Thanks for all info mentioned above.

Just for the record ... this is called 'Cable Forum' because we specialise in helping people who have cable TV, or other services from Virgin Media. Not because we're experts in cables. :D

Not that it makes much difference, we're always happy to help where we can. :)

[the_purple_pig]

Hi All,

I hope this is not the wrong pace to ask this, but I saw this thread and it relates to a problem I have. I wonder if anyone can help..

My telephone cable comes in from the pole and attaches to the wooden fascia under my gutter, like pretty much everyone elses. Only in my case the attachment to the wooden fascia is quite high up, so that the gutter on top of it has to be quite high in order to clear it. This means an uphill run for the water to reach the gutter downpipe, and consequently extremely heavy 'rainfall' from my overflowing gutter right above my back door.

I am worried about the wall getting damp (if it isn't already after 4 years of drenching). I thought I might be able to pull the cable lower somehow and drop my gutter, but the tension on the cable is already impressive so much so that I may snap the cable by putting any extra force on it.

I am also worried that it might be illegal for me to tamper with the cable.

Anyone know how I might fix this quandry, preferably without further emptying my already void-like wallet?

Thanks,
Arthur

[Chris]

How is the cable attached to the fascia? Could you unscrew something and maybe shift it down a couple of inches?

[Kymmy]

Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Probably best to take a picture of the mount and gutter as that'll help anyone on here help you

[the_purple_pig]

I'm not too sure exactly how it attaches, I'll TRY take a look tonight, and take a photograph while I'm at it.

My main problem (and why it's taken me 4 years to decide enough is enough and fix it) is that I am terrified of ladders, and I can't get within touching distance of my gutter before I freeze up.

My plan of action is to steel myself with a couple of whiskies before I try go up there again. That was a joke :-)

I think shifting it downwards will be impossible because the cable is as taut as can be already, and moving downwards will create more tension. Moving above the gutter may be possible, but then again I am not sure that I am allowed to touch the fitting, or if I am supposed to call the phone company or council and they do, since it is technically not my property, I think.

[Chris]

No, you're not supposed to touch it, but then you don't want to pay them £140 either, which is why many people simply have a go themselves. If you get it wrong, you call them out and the cost is the same, so you lose nothing by trying.

[Paul K]

As long as you don't damage the cable you should be able to remount the fixing. Damage it and you will see Mr BT rubbing his hands together from a very great distance. One question though..... why was the guttering in the wrong place already? Surely it was there before BT installed the drop?
If the cable is taut you may have problems but moving it towards the pole may provide slack enough to move it but either way do not damage the drop line or you will be paying for the call out.

[TheNorm]

...I am terrified of ladders, ...

I hate the wretched things, too. Have you thought of asking a neighbour? You could bribe him with a bit of that whisky (afterwards, of course!)

[martyh]

Hi All,

I hope this is not the wrong pace to ask this, but I saw this thread and it relates to a problem I have. I wonder if anyone can help..

My telephone cable comes in from the pole and attaches to the wooden fascia under my gutter, like pretty much everyone elses. Only in my case the attachment to the wooden fascia is quite high up, so that the gutter on top of it has to be quite high in order to clear it. This means an uphill run for the water to reach the gutter downpipe, and consequently extremely heavy 'rainfall' from my overflowing gutter right above my back door.

I am worried about the wall getting damp (if it isn't already after 4 years of drenching). I thought I might be able to pull the cable lower somehow and drop my gutter, but the tension on the cable is already impressive so much so that I may snap the cable by putting any extra force on it.

I am also worried that it might be illegal for me to tamper with the cable.

Anyone know how I might fix this quandry, preferably without further emptying my already void-like wallet?

Thanks,
Arthur

high purple -pig ,as part of my job i renew gutter and facia in council properties so to answer your question ,no it is not illegal to move the line (i have to do it all the time)
it is quite easy to do, the triangular bracket which the cable is attached simply unscrews and can be re-attached anywere on the facia ,but in your situation i would recomend re-attaching to the soffit or directly to the joist if your property has open joist and no soffit
in all cases though make sure the bracket is fixed through any facia /soffit into a joist using min 2 inch screws as this will give maximun support for the cable when it snows and the cable increases in weight

hope this helps

[the_purple_pig]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies.

I've no idea why it is like it is, I bought the house in that state - I guess a bodged guttering job by previous owner is likely.

I got home too late tonight to take a photo, but will be able to tomrrow, if not completely sort it out completely now that I am not afraid t touch it.

If I can get up the ladder, of course :-)

[the_purple_pig]

Ah, I managed to take some photos this morning. Fortunately my camera has a huge zoom, so I could get close ups without setting foot on that damned ladder.

Mounting is an eye on a triangular plate, screwed into woodwork. You can see how it raises the gutter. I think moving it further to the edge (right) and downwards should cure it, or alternatively I'll have to use an eyelet rawlbolt into the brickwork with a chain and another eyelet affixed, which would get the cable totally off the wood.

How much tension can I expect on the cable? I guess I'll have to make a temporary fixing to keep the cable in place while moving the mounting point.

[Pauls9]

...and if you're holding onto the bracket when you unscrew it, take care that the tension on the cable doesn't pull you away from the wall. A temporary fixing sounds like a good idea.