BT Line Box attached to window sill

[#1]

A bit of info from Openreach which may help.

If equipment is in your way we can help

[#2]

Many thanks everyone. I do have the direct telephone number for the senior housing manager at my council although I didn`t think I`d need to involve him or the council to be honest. If I just wear blinkers here and allow the workmen to go ahead having pointed out the issue to their site supervisor beforehand, they make you feel as if they can carry on and everything will be OK. They say the usual - "Oh don`t worry, we`ve come across this before"... That`s what I`m hoping will happen but I suppose I`m walking on eggshells until the window is removed, they `set aside` the master socket once they unscrew it from the window frame and reattach it again.

The `humming` sound I mentioned earlier was indeed the dial tone! Sorry for the confusion! I should have worded that better. The line is fine. I`m prepared to pay for any fault that`s caused (hopefully not) but then I`d need to chase up the compensation and not feel as if I`m the one being victimized through not causing the fault myself, although it does seem that`s how they would view it. Them saying don`t worry is all very well. 

@Strat: Thankyou for the OR link. 👍  

[#3]

For clarity (us and your contractors) - does the WIRE pass through the window frame?

It would be one thing for the wire to not pass through the window frame with the box screwed tot he window sill, but something quite different if the wire does (as many old installations do) pass through the window frame.

If the wire passes through the window frame, at best it is not going to be removed without disconnecting the box from the line (to pull the wire out of the frame) and technically that is something only BT should do.  You then need to examine how the external wire routes to the hole in the frame - is it attached to the frame?  Is it pained over?  You mentioned that it is not secure externally - is there enough play in the line to allow the wire to be routed differently?  How will it re-enter the property?  Will the contractor seek to "trap" it between the frame and the wall as the new window is fitted?  That might have the risk of abrading the wire.

I suspect that the contractors might not have fully considered how to deal with this situation if the wire passes through the frame and are presuming that the wire enters elsewhere and just the box is attached to the frame.

[#4]

Hi Townman. Everything you expressed is correct. I suspect (as I cannot visually see the wire on the inside) is beneath/running under the wooden window sill somehow. I can only see the master socket on the inside as the wiring is not visible from the master socket (which I presume is hidden somewhere inside this wooden sill). I`ve just gone outside and the two core grey wire is actually coming in at the side of the window (where they seal the window frame with that rubbery white stuff). So the wire is allocated to the side and then runs into the master socket from there (which I cannot then see as it`s going directly into the master socket on the inside from there. 

I see your main point though regarding how they will remove and then fit a new window in if the wire is actually going through the window frame itself. I don`t think that`s the case here as the wire does seem to go off to the side before it comes into the house. So it may be that all they have to do is unscrew the actual master socket, carefully remove the old window and it`s frame, replace the window frame making sure the wiring is in the same place (off to one side) and reattach the master socket to the wooden frame again. 

I will report back once I`ve spoken to someone other than a window fitter. 

I intend to get hold of their line manager before any work commences to run him through all this! As you said, they may be underestimating what they need to do and I need to be 100% satisfied before they pull the window out. 

[#5]

@plusmouse 

Are they actually going to replace the inside wooden sill? Very often they only replace the window frame and the outer sill which it sits on, unless the owner actually asks for a new plastic sill. The inner sill is a separate piece of wood from the window frame etc.

Re the wire from the outside, we had a door and frame replaced and there was no problem with the door bell wire which was routed between the old frame and the brickwork. They just were careful around it and routed it through the same place between the new frame and the brickwork. I suspect it is very common to have wires routed this way.

[#6]

@plusmouse 

It sounds like you will be OK if the cable is just routed through the side of the window frame..

I agree with @jgb, I suspect that they are very unlikely to be changing the window cill as well as the windows. When we went from wooden to plastic double glazed windows we certainly kept the old ones. If the inner cills are changed this requires a considerable amount of work and redecoration that can't be justified. So they may be able to just carefully remove the window without touching the wiring or existing box screwed to the cill.

If the wire is actually fitted through a hole drilled through the frame then you may be in nightmare territory over getting others to accept liability. This would probably have been done by GPO installers before privatisation or Openreach existed. I can see the argument:

It's not the window fitters because they cannot change the window unless the wires are disconnected. It's not the council's because some-one drilled a hole through the frame without their permission. It's not Openreach because it was working fine until disconnected by a third party. It's not yours because presumably it's the council's decision to change the windows. All aboard the roundabout!

Fingers crossed that common sense prevails and you are worying unnecessarily.

[#7]

I can tell you that they are replacing (a) the window, it`s PVC frame AND the wooden surrounding on the inside (which the master socket is screwed onto). Just to clarify, they won`t be replacing the concrete `sills` on the outside just the actual windows, the white PVC frame and the wooden surround. It won`t be until they remove the wooden surrounding wood that the cable will show where it`s threaded to. I suspect because I can see it go through a pre-drilled hold on the outside to the left of the rubber seal, that it then runs into the master socket box and hopefully, isn`t running through the frame itself, so they won`t need to worry about reattaching again.

They have been working at my neighbors houses the past few days but one neighbors phone wire goes through a hole in their wall, the neighbor on the other side has the wire going through their hall window just like mine, but the difference is that their master socket is not on the other side of their window frame, their wire runs down into their hallway where their socket was located. Maybe I`m just unlucky ours was fixed to a window frame. 🙄 

@Baldrick1 wrote: It sounds like you will be OK if the cable is just routed through the side of the window frame..

I hope so Baldrick1. It does seem to be so fingers crossed. 

@jgb wrote: They just were careful around it and routed it through the same place between the new frame and the brickwork. I suspect it is very common to have wires routed this way.

Yes, it seems to be just like that jgb so I suspect it will be a hang and replace job! I`ll remind them to unscrew it as if they are doing a bomb disposal....or they will have me to deal with! 

[#8]

UPDATE** -  All went fine everyone! 🤗 One of the window fitters (told me he`d done this before) unscrewed the master socket & it`s back plate, ran the wire from outside down into the new wooden window frame and re-secured the box to the new wooden sill. The four green router lights stayed constant and the phone tone was also fine afterwards. What a relief!!! The site manager seemed happy enough for them to proceed even though I was having kittens imagining a worse case scenario that didn`t transpire. It felt a bit like bomb disposal on my nerves!

The windows are also looking good, so I`m pleased all went well. I would say though that anyone finding themselves in a similar situation may want to contact their council in good time before any doors or windows need replacing to make sure they are not liable for other`s damage. I contacted my council senior housing officer and after two days, nothing. 😕 No reply to my emails. Which left me feeling rather at a loss as to how to proceed, so if it wasn`t for the confidence of the men doing the work, I`d have felt very much coerced as they were adamant they had to get the job done and didn`t seem very worried about my predicament at all. 

[#9]

@plusmouse 

So all’s well that ends well. Thanks for letting us know, it’s nice to get feedback.

[#10]

It is Baldrick1, All good. 👍 I was possibly overly worrying but at the same time, I was very anxious all the same. Thankfully all went fine. Thanks everyone for your feedback and advice, much appreciated. 🙂