A B.C. man who accidentally damaged a natural gas line has been ordered to pay the utility company $2,320 for the repairs—but a tribunal found he’s not liable for the crew’s overtime meals.
FortisBC filed a claim against Jason Burden after he refused to pay a much higher bill of $4,036 for damaging the line, which he admitted to doing while digging in his front yard with a shovel in May 2024.
Burden told the Civil Resolution Tribunal he called the BC 1 hotline before starting to dig, as required, but the utility argued he did not follow the safety guidelines provided to him after doing so.
Those guidelines warn against using “excessive force that could break a plastic pipe,” tribunal member Max Pappin wrote in his decision last week. FortisBC’s pictures of the damage showed the line was almost completely severed.
“Given the extent of the damage to the gas line, I find it more likely than not that Mr. Burden used excessive force while digging,” Pappin wrote.
Burden also said he’d requested FortisBC send someone to show him exactly where the gas line is, but the tribunal found that did not absolve him of his responsibility to dig in such a way that would not cause damage.
While the tribunal found Burden liable for the repairs, it also questioned some of FortisBC’s accounting.
While the utility claimed $3,026 for labour, Pappin noted the company did not provide a breakdown of the employees’ hourly rate or the number of hours they worked. Using comparable examples from previous cases, the tribunal member found it was “reasonable” to award FortisBC just $1,800 for labour.
The company also claimed $383 for the work of third-party contractors, all of which was rejected by the tribunal—including one invoice that was dated a year after the damage, and which appeared to be for “multiple locations and jobs,” according to the decision.
FortisBC tried to recoup $96 worth of overtime meal allowances for its crew as well, but Pappin found the company had provided “no legal basis” for doing so.
A $520 vehicle charge was not contested by Burden, leaving his total owing at $2,320.
“Overall, I find Mr. Burden bears responsibility for damaging the gas line,” Pappin wrote. “He breached the required standard of care.”
