A construction company has been ordered to pay FortisBC more than $4,000 in compensation after the gas company claimed it damaged a gas line in Richmond.
The claim was taken to the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT), which concluded Finest Construction was negligent by using an excavator around gas lines, damaging the gas line.
Finest Construction claimed it didn’t do any work near the gas line and didn’t damage it.
But the CRT noted the company had a BC 1 Call Ticket — a request for information about where gas lines are located and permission to dig — as well as a demolition permit for the property.
Furthermore, the CRT noted in its decision Finest Construction didn’t provide any documentary evidence, nor did it provide any submissions “beyond a general denial that it did not work at the property.”
Because Finest Construction had a BC 1 Call Ticket and a demolition permit from the municipality, the CRT concluded that it was “more likely than not that Finest Construction used an excavator and hit Fortis’ gas line.”
The CRT found Finest Construction breached the standard of care; that is, they had been given information indicating where there were gas lines, and a document called “Safe Digging Guidelines.”
“I find this shows that Finest Construction was, or should have been, aware that there were gas lines on the property and that it negligently used an excavator,” contrary to the Gas Safety Regulation, said Peter Mennie, the CRT tribunal member who wrote the decision.
Gas safety regulations require hand-digging near a gas line before the use of an excavator.
Finest Construction was ordered to pay $4,089.20 in damages and $175 in CRT fees.
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