I think we all agree for the most part that this is more than likely the
responsibility of the Contractor that did the work for AT&T. The problem
I see with this is that AT&T usually uses contractors and chooses there
contractors carefully so that they will not have any liability in these
cases. They so the same thing for tower companies They will hire a
questionable contractors knowing that they will more than likely due
crap work, but they are cheap. That contractor has an LLC set up just to
do the work for AT&T lets all the complaints pile up and then closes the
door to the company starts a new one and gets a new contract with AT&T.
That is the problem I see with this. In situations like this I think
there is some responsibility on the providers part or whomever owns the
new utility in place to make certain there contractor has insurance and
must make sure it is up to date and on file for reporting claims.
On 7/20/2016 8:18 PM, Forrest Christian (List Account) wrote:
This is really an interesting liability question....
The liability is pretty much as you described in Montana as well.....
Call in a locate. Wait 2 days. If you dig and hit something, and it
was marked, it's your fault. If it wasn't marked, it's the fault of the
owner of the facility.
The case here sounds like a situation where the line probably wasn't
marked, but the line also probably wasn't under the authority of anyone
who was required to be in the 1-call system. The question being: If
you're a homeowner, and you weren't notified to mark your lines, and
they hit a line the homeowner owns, who is responsible to fix it?
I agree that the correct answer is the contractor who hit the line.
However, I can definitely see the contractor's viewpoint - if it wasn't
marked then it's hard for them to avoid it.
-forrest
On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 2:39 PM, Josh Reynolds <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
I don't think you understand how this works.
AT&T hires a contractor to install copper/fiber. Contractor needs to
do work somewhere, so they hire the regional locate company to come in
and locate existing utilities. Locate company marks the utilities. If
the contractor hits an unmarked utility, the liability is on the
locate company. If the contractor hits a marked utility, the liability
is on the contractor.
If a homeowner does work in the yard and hits a utility without having
them located, the liability is on the homeowner.
On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 3:09 PM, That One Guy /sarcasm
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> I dont like intervention from the gubment
>
> But these situations are not uncommon, There should be consumer
recourse to
> get made whole in a timely fashion, even if that means
accountability to the
> entity hiring the contractor, as they are there as a
representative of that
> company, at the same time there should be a simplified mechanism
for the
> primary company to recoup the costs associated directly from the
contracting
> company, but the consumer protection and recourse should be a
priority. It
> shouldnt be a hoop jumping fest for the consumer either. Even if
it means
> something as simple as if you have easement access, youre bound to
a 14 day
> compensation window to compensate the consumer, at which point its
up to the
> company to recoup those costs either through a suit against the
contractor,
> or in a suit against the consumer. It shouldnt be the other way
around where
> all burdens fall on the consumer
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 3:01 PM, Chuck McCown <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>
>> And they should.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Adam Moffett Sent: Wednesday,
July 20,
>> 2016 1:52 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ;
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG]
>> Fiber....your worst nightmare?
>> The drilling company is liable, but AT&T could pressure them to
take care
>> of it.
>>
>>
>> ------ Original Message ------
>> From: "Chuck McCown" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>> Sent: 7/20/2016 2:57:29 PM
>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Fiber....your worst nightmare?
>>
>>> Drilling company is on the hook. No question.
>>> I hire contractors all the time. 100% on them when things like this
>>> happen.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Andy Trimmell
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 12:56 PM
>>> To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Fiber....your worst nightmare?
>>>
>>> ATT saying they're not involved is really a crappy way to do
business.
>>> The drilling company worked for them so they should do their due
diligence
>>> and help the homeowner get what they deserve. If they did they'd
probably
>>> have a life long customer but instead they point fingers and say
say "nuh uh
>>> not me".
>>>
>>> Don't get people some times.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Af [mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Seth Mattinen
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 2:50 PM
>>> To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Fiber....your worst nightmare?
>>>
>>> On 7/20/16 11:34, CBB - Jay Fuller wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Comments?
>>>>
>>>> http://via.whnt.com/pLJZ6
>>>>
>>>> If I were on my desktop I'd post the text
>>>>
>>>
>>> Isn't that what homeowner's insurance is for so the insurance
company
>>> will go after the at-fault party so you don't have to? Good luck
getting
>>> AT&T to admit to anything.
>>>
>>> ~Seth
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see
your team as
> part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team.
--
*Forrest Christian* /CEO//, PacketFlux Technologies, Inc./
Tel: 406-449-3345 | Address: 3577 Countryside Road, Helena, MT 59602
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> | http://www.packetflux.com
<http://www.packetflux.com/>
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<http://twitter.com/@packetflux>
