What can I do about TV cable/wiring?

*Sunny*

Hi all,

I moved into my new apartment a few months ago and slowly settling in. Snag and other issues have been eventually dealt with but there is still one outstanding problem the builder has yet to rectify, the NTL connection. The apartment is supposed to be pre-wired for NTL. The connection in the master bedroom works fine, but the connection in the living room doesn’t work. I’ve had NTL come out twice to test it and try to fix it but they said that it’s a wiring issue and the builder has to fix it.

So I contacted the foreman and he’s aware of the issue but keeps saying that he can’t get into contact with the electrician that wired the apartment. And i did ring the builders company a few times, nobody got back to me. It’s been over 2 months now and I’m growing restless and becoming increasingly frustrated with the foreman as he keeps making excuses and doesn’t seem to care about fixing it. It’s very annoying as I can’t watch tv in the living room when come home after a long day work, especially when I have friends over!

what can I do other than send them a solicitor’s letter? Is there a department or body I can report them to without having to spend money on a solicitor’s letter or getting electrician myself?

Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

maceocc2

Once you've signed off on the snags then i don't think there much you can do legally.

The only thing you can do is to keep ringing him several times a day until he gets the message that your not gonna let it go.

bobbysands81

*Sunny* wrote: »

Hi all,

I moved into my new apartment a few months ago and slowly settling in. Snag and other issues have been eventually dealt with but there is still one outstanding problem the builder has yet to rectify, the NTL connection. The apartment is supposed to be pre-wired for NTL. The connection in the master bedroom works fine, but the connection in the living room doesn’t work. I’ve had NTL come out twice to test it and try to fix it but they said that it’s a wiring issue and the builder has to fix it.

So I contacted the foreman and he’s aware of the issue but keeps saying that he can’t get into contact with the electrician that wired the apartment. And i did ring the builders company a few times, nobody got back to me. It’s been over 2 months now and I’m growing restless and becoming increasingly frustrated with the foreman as he keeps making excuses and doesn’t seem to care about fixing it. It’s very annoying as I can’t watch tv in the living room when come home after a long day work, especially when I have friends over!

what can I do other than send them a solicitor’s letter? Is there a department or body I can report them to without having to spend money on a solicitor’s letter or getting electrician myself?

Any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'd ring him and say you're giving him until tomorrow lunchtime to fix it. After that you're going to leave it to your solicitor and you'll be chasing them for any legal/professional fees incurred in rectifying their problem.

thesteve

buy a wireless digital sender for €50 on ebay and transmit the signal to your living room until you can get it fixed. Life's too short to be panicing and stressing over not being able watch tv in your living room!

cooperla

maceocc2 wrote: »

Once you've signed off on the snags then i don't think there much you can do legally.

The only thing you can do is to keep ringing him several times a day until he gets the message that your not gonna let it go.

I'm not sure this is true. AFAIK, when you buy a new apartment, and even after you sign off on the snag list, there is a period of a year (or two - not exactly sure) or so in which the builder is still responsible for faults. However, if someone bought the flat off plans and then sold it on when it was built, the builder is under no obligation to pass on the guarantee to the new owner (although the builder may agree to do this during the sale).

As others have suggested, keep ringing. Also, send the builder a letter to make it official (registered post I guess). I would think this would come in handy if you do end up needing to contact a solicitor.

RIRI

I come across this specific issue very regularly in my line of work. Usually the electrical contractor installs the wiring & NTL "bell out" the individual apartments, i.e. they look after the connection for each unit.

As NTL are known to fob new home owners off to the builder in this situation, I would ask for a written report from NTL & send same to the builders (or the developers) head office along with a letter explaining the current situation. I'd also let the foreman know that this is what you intend to do (at the end of the day it will be he who attends and you'll catch more bees with honey)

In the letter I would give them a time frame in which to make contact with you rather than a deadline to repair as god knows what the problem might be. In my opinion threatening legal action in your first written communication is a little over the top.

Do let us know how you get on which ever course of action you decide to take

Good Luck

PIMPHO

cooperla wrote: »

I'm not sure this is true. AFAIK, when you buy a new apartment, and even after you sign off on the snag list, there is a period of a year (or two - not exactly sure) or so in which the builder is still responsible for faults. However, if someone bought the flat off plans and then sold it on when it was built, the builder is under no obligation to pass on the guarantee to the new owner (although the builder may agree to do this during the sale).

As others have suggested, keep ringing. Also, send the builder a letter to make it official (registered post I guess). I would think this would come in handy if you do end up needing to contact a solicitor.

Yes cooperla is incorrect here. Even after you sign off on the snag the builder is still repsonsible for any faults for at least the first year and he is obliged to fix them for you. Seeing that you couldn't try or check if the NTL connection actually worked without NTL connecting you when you done your snag, this would mean it's not your fault that it wasn't detailed in your snag and the builder should fix asap.

Persitant calls to builder are useless, keep sending them emails or letters and keep it as evidence and cc as many people in the mail as possible. That way you have an audit trail, with phone calls you have no proof.

I would suggest you contact your solicitor to send them a letter. Brief summary that you have contacted them on numerous occasions over the past 2 months and nothing has come of it, give them a deadline when you want it fixed, and that all legal charges will be invoiced to the builder.

PIMPHO

thesteve wrote: »

buy a wireless digital sender for €50 on ebay and transmit the signal to your living room until you can get it fixed. Life's too short to be panicing and stressing over not being able watch tv in your living room!

That's easy for you to say when you haven't forked out money to buy a new apartment! If you were renting the place, then fine, get over it but you have used your hard earned cash to buy this apartment! The least you'd expect is to be able to watch tv in your living room especially if the apartment was meant to be pre-wired for NTL!!

*Sunny*

thank you so much for everyone's advices. i kept calling the foreman, he did call me back on thur. afternoon and said his company had got in touch with the contractor who wired the place (which he told me he was trying to contact the contrator himself for the last two months as well, but they never got back to him) & said so things were moving now. When i asked him when they would come out to fix the problem, e.g.this week? he said he didnt know, but would keep in touch. i suppose that's not good enough? i just have to keep calling and send them a letter to the company i guess. i'm not that a big TV fan, but i just want to get this thing sorted asap and make the place more like home.

bobbysands81

*Sunny* wrote: »

thank you so much for everyone's advices. i kept calling the foreman, he did call me back on thur. afternoon and said his company had got in touch with the contractor who wired the place (which he told me he was trying to contact the contrator himself for the last two months as well, but they never got back to him) & said so things were moving now. When i asked him when they would come out to fix the problem, e.g.this week? he said he didnt know, but would keep in touch. i suppose that's not good enough? i just have to keep calling and send them a letter to the company i guess. i'm not that a big TV fan, but i just want to get this thing sorted asap and make the place more like home.

You paid the builder to carry out this work, they didn't do it. It's irrelevant that their subcontractor failed to carry out the work properly, you paid THEM not the subcontractor therefore, as far as you're concerned it's their problem to sort it.

Ring them back and give them a deadline.

PIMPHO

bobbysands81 wrote: »

You paid the builder to carry out this work, they didn't do it. It's irrelevant that their subcontractor failed to carry out the work properly, you paid THEM not the subcontractor therefore, as far as you're concerned it's their problem to sort it.

Ring them back and give them a deadline.

+1

And if you don't give them a deadline or give them some sort of threat, you'll more than likely be waiting another 2 months before they sort it!

*Sunny*

well, i was talking to the foreman at lunch time, he kept putting me on hold three or four times, same as every other time i ring him. cant believe he told me its NTL supplied the cable/wires to their contractor (the electrician), so the electrician told him to tell me to get NTL to fix it! i told him it is not NTL's responsibility, as NTL's electrician came in twice & tested the line and told me to get the builders/own electrician to fix the wiring. so i asked him to get the electician to sort it out asap, because even after waiting for 2&half months, no electrician came to check the wiring at all. my patience is tested, this is so frustrating. i guess solicitor letter is the only way to get it moving?

roots

I was hit with the exact same problem whereby the NTL connection was faulty in the living room.
Having a wireless transmitter is not the best option as the quality is deteriorating from what I've seen.
I was lucky that the foreman was a nice guy and he got another wire on the outside (I know it's not the best but was able to hide it well) and the problem was fixed.
Try and see if you can't do this yourself, it's a straight forward job, that's only in case you still can't get them to do it for you.

*Sunny*

roots wrote: »

I was hit with the exact same problem whereby the NTL connection was faulty in the living room.
Having a wireless transmitter is not the best option as the quality is deteriorating from what I've seen.
I was lucky that the foreman was a nice guy and he got another wire on the outside (I know it's not the best but was able to hide it well) and the problem was fixed.
Try and see if you can't do this yourself, it's a straight forward job, that's only in case you still can't get them to do it for you.

Hey roots

thanks for the suggestion, but im just wondering u said he got a wire from outside, where do u mean? im not sure where i can get extra wire from outside of an apartment.

bobbysands81

*Sunny* wrote: »

Hey roots

thanks for the suggestion, but im just wondering u said he got a wire from outside, where do u mean? im not sure where i can get extra wire from outside of an apartment.

Sunny,

See my earlier post.

Ring the builders every 30 minutes until he agrees to fix it. They are contractually obliged to provide you with something, they did not, therefore they have to fix it as YOUR contract is with them. Do not accept them saying it's their subcontractors fault as they contracted the subcontractor to do the work on THEIR behalf for you.