Ombudsman investigation confirms homeowner not liable for damage by contractor

A homeowner engaged a third-party contractor to conduct excavation works on their property. During the works, the underground gas supply was damaged. Although the contractor contacted the distributor on the same day to report the incident and accepted responsibility, the distributor later issued an invoice to the homeowner for the repair costs. The homeowner complained to us.

We investigated the complaint and found that the distributor’s decision to invoice the homeowner was inconsistent with good industry practice and its own recent approach in similar cases. When the responsible contractor is known, they should be pursued directly for cost recovery, and the distributor had previously done so in comparable situations. As a result of the investigation, the distributor agreed to withdraw the invoice and confirmed that it would seek cost recovery directly from the contractor, which resolved the complaint.

Did you know?...

Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) website provides a single point of contact to request free information about any underground or overhead infrastructure at a planned work site without needing to contact the utilities provider (gas, electricity, water, and telecommunications) and local governments individually.

Image credit: Bill Hutchison, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0