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Here, have some rep points.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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So I moved to a new office back in February.
Everything's fine, except for these power outlets (that are like 10 to 20 cm high) that are on the floor in the middle of the room (which probably made sense in the 80's, when this building was built).
Multiple people, including myself, regularly (almost) trip over them, so they have to go before someone breaks their neck over them.
I asked some electricians to move them, but I get very high prices because no one is really waiting for this kind of work.
It includes some drilling in a concrete floor on the first floor (second floor if you're in America).
Today is finally the day and they drilled through a water pipe 
The boiler is in someone's office that's never locked, except today.
They're now removing the concrete floor and a plumber is on his way.
Meanwhile, the other tenants and I don't have water.
At this point I just hope they'll be fixing it today and that they won't charge me for it.
Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure their terms mentioned something about this 
Who knew moving some outlets is one of the harder (and more expensive) things in life? 
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And it's not even Friday the 13th... 
These electricians certainly don't give an impression of professionalism. Didn't they check where the water pipes are before they started drilling?
I know that this isn't ideal, but if the landlord (or the other tenants) charge you for the damage, can't you recover the cost from the electricians?
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: These electricians certainly don't give an impression of professionalism.
Actually a bigger and better known electrician company in the area.
People speak highly of them.
Daniel Pfeffer wrote: Didn't they check where the water pipes are before they started drilling?
I guess they didn't.
How would this be possible?
Daniel Pfeffer wrote: I know that this isn't ideal, but if the landlord (or the other tenants) charge you for the damage, can't you recover the cost from the electricians?
No one will charge for the damage (they're fixing it, so there won't be any), I'm just afraid the electrician will charge for fixing his own mistake.
Probably because "they couldn't have known" or something like that.
We'll see...
They're fixing everything without bothering me further, so at least that's nice 
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Any electrician, plumber, builder would check before drilling to see that there are no other utility pipes/cables in that spot. It is (or should be) standard procedure before starting.
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I asked about that.
They simply have no way to see water pipes in concrete floors.
They can see electricity, but not water.
They need to drill another hole, which they're going to do very, very carefully 
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Depends how far down they are drilling, and how far down they are: Bosch GMS 120 Multi Detector | Toolstation[^] All the pipes here are copper, so they are detectable to 8cm with that (relatively cheap) toy.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Apparently, there shouldn't have been any pipes to begin with.
They weren't drawn on the maps and it was the only place that had them.
They probably forgot those pipes and added them later just underneath the top floor.
We'll never know.
I'm not sure why they aren't using a device such as the one you're suggesting.
Maybe it's not accurate enough?
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I guess when we had our extension build we were very lucky. The plumber manged to find (and reroute) all the pipes under the concrete floors without damaging any of them.
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Sander Rossel wrote: They simply have no way to see water pipes in concrete floors.
They can see electricity, but not water.
I call bull. Water is a conductor, and a conductor can be detected with a commercial locator tool. If it's a metal pipe, it's even easier, and a standard network toner set can likely locate it.
Will Rogers never met me.
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A few years ago we had the flat roof of our garage replaced; it abuts a brick-built but rendered wall. While cutting flashing into the wall (ironically) they cut a mains cable resulting in - flashing. To be fair, it was a pretty stupid place to run a cable (not us, it was there when we bought the house, but didn't know). However they used the "it shouldn't have been there" argument and charged for repairs. The whole job was suspiciously cheap anyway, and the roof started leaking about 5 years later. By then they'd "gone out of business", though another roofing company with the same staff and very similar name still operates from the same premises...  
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Sander Rossel wrote: Daniel Pfeffer wrote:Didn't they check where the water pipes are before they started drilling?I guess they didn't.
How would this be possible?
If the pipes are metal, they could have used a metal detector to see if there was something there. As the building dates from the '80s, there is a good chance that this was before plastic pipes were used in walls.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I'd imagine a concrete slab floor is full of rebar, which would limit a metal detectors ability to tell what it's looking at.
Granted they shouldn't be drilling through rebar either; but in a properly build structure rebar damage isn't an immediate catastrophe.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
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Its now late to discuss this, but would placing a short table, or small wooden stool on top of the existing power outlet been a simpler solution. At least it will be visible so that nobody trips on it.
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Yeah, but we'd have a short table or small wooden stool in the middle of the room 
Plus all the cables that come from it, as they're one of the few outlets we have.
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If it were India, we would have placed an image / deity of a God on top of that short table, centrally located and spreading auspiciousness all around the office.
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Sander Rossel wrote: Yeah, but we'd have a short table or small wooden stool in the middle of the room
One word... Kegerator[^]
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fgs1963 wrote: One word... Kegerator[^]
I can just see the recruiting ad: "In our office, it's always Beer O'Clock!"
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Do you own or lease the office? If you lease, get the owner to do it. If you own, then as follows:
Are you raising or lowering outlets? If so, do it yourself. It's not that hard to do.
I've done in my own homes and it meets code. It's mostly a mechanical process.
If you are adding outlets, then you will need some electrical assistance.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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Lease, but the owner isn't paying for this.
I can't even hang a painting on the wall, I'm not doing anything myself.
Besides, it involves drilling in concrete, we're moving outlets from the middle of the room to the walls.
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Got it.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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