Decision report 201200265

Summary

Mr C complained to Scottish Water about the length of time they were taking to complete pipe replacement works along a stretch of road. The works affected his commute and he felt that they were taking longer than necessary as Scottish Water's contractors were not working during evenings and weekends. During his correspondence with Scottish Water, Mr C asked why work was not being carried out at these times, and was told that the local authority had placed restrictions on the hours that could be worked. However, when Mr C contacted the local authority, they told him that they had not done this.

Mr C complained that Scottish Water deliberately misled him in their letter, as there were in fact no restrictions on the hours that could be worked. Our investigation found that several departments in the local authority were involved in the pipe-replacement works. In their capacity as roads authority, the local authority had placed no restrictions on working hours for the project. Mr C's enquiries had been addressed to the roads service and they had confirmed this to him. However, in their environmental health capacity, the local authority had applied their standard working hours restrictions, which prevented work after 18:00 Monday to Friday and 13:00 on Saturdays, with no work permitted on Sundays or public holidays. We were satisfied that working hours restrictions were in fact in place and that Scottish Water did not deliberately mislead Mr C in their correspondence with him.