---
id: KB-CN-023
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/construction/the-one-who-leaves-cable-inside-the-wall
idioma: en
categoria: sector-construccion
subcategoria: electricas
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CN-021, KB-CN-019]
citadoPor: [KB-CN-024, KB-CN-025]
---

# The one who leaves cable inside the wall

_Your work is visible for three days. After that it is behind a wall and exists only if somebody photographed it._

**Responde a:** how to prove what i installed before it was covered · photos of installation before closing the wall · claim about an installation nobody can see · recording what was executed on site

You run the line, leave it as it should be and move to the next job. Three days later the drylining crew comes through and **your work disappears for good**. From that moment, anything anyone claims about what is inside that wall —you included— is a claim with nothing behind it, unless somebody recorded something before it was closed.

## The window in which anything can be proved

| Moment | What can be seen | Cost of putting it on record |
| --- | --- | --- |
| While being executed | Everything | Seconds |
| Executed and not yet covered | Everything | Seconds |
| Covered | Nothing | Opening the wall |
| **Under warranty, two years on** | **Nothing** | **Opening it, and arguing who pays** |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **What is recorded before covering is not done out of bureaucracy: it is done because it is the last time the work exists visually.** That is the whole difference between a claim closed in a morning and one that starts with a hammer. And it is literally thirty seconds per room, done by the person already standing there, with the phone already in their pocket.

## What is worth recording, and what is not

1. **The run before closing, room by room** — One photo per room with something identifying it. Nothing more is needed.
2. **Whatever departs from the drawing** — It is what nobody can find later and what costs most.
3. **Whatever you found badly done by someone else** — Before you cover it, because afterwards it becomes yours.
4. **And keep it off the phone of whoever took it** — The foreman's camera roll is not the project archive.

> [!WARNING]
> The case that moves most money in this position is not a failure of yours: **it is someone else's failure attributed to you because yours is the work nobody can see**. Damp appears, or something does not work, and whatever is behind the wall becomes the default suspect. With no record the argument is settled by elimination, and whoever can show nothing loses. With four dated photos, the conversation lasts as long as it takes to look at them.

> [!NOTE]
> What installation documentation must be issued, who signs it and what checks must be recorded **is determined by the applicable rules and each project's supervising team, and settled by your adviser or professional body**. Here we cover the practical part: how to evidence what was executed in the only moment when it is possible.

**Does a phone photo count?**

It counts for a great deal, especially if it is dated and stored where it will not be lost.

**Do I have to photograph everything?**

Whatever is going to be covered, and whatever departed from the drawing. The rest is optional.

**What if the fault was someone else's and I covered it?**

Which is why it pays to record it before covering, not after being asked.

## Ejemplos

**The wall is closed and no record remains of what was installed.**

- Allows capturing photos from a phone at the workface

→ The record is made in the only moment when it is possible.

**A problem appears and what cannot be seen is suspected.**

- Keeps captures with their date and location

→ The argument is settled by looking rather than opening.

**The photos stay on the phone of whoever took them.**

- Stores captures in the project file

→ The record outlives the change of personnel.

**The route departs from the drawing and nobody notes it.**

- Records the deviation at the moment of execution

→ Whoever comes later knows what is really inside.

**Someone else's poor work is covered up with no record.**

- Records what was found before covering it

→ Another trade's defect is not inherited by silence.

**Under warranty they ask about an installation from two years ago.**

- Keeps the record tied to the project and the date

→ It is answered with what was captured then.