The gas pipes ruptured during building construction at a Contour Ave property in Pyes Pa yesterday were laid in the wrong place.

A fencing contractor working on a new home hit a gas main about 8.45am, causing a gas leak which saw emergency services close the road for about two hours.

Emergency services at the gas lead yesterday.

Home owner Janine Evans says an inspection of the site plans revealed Vector Gas Services laid the gas mains in the wrong place.

'We have plans from [Tauranga City] Council and there were no easements on our property, so we just dug, and hit their mains.

She says Vector plans show the pipes should run under their driveway next to the property. 'But they actually cut through our boundary and that's why the pipes were hit.”

Janine says council plans do not show the mains running down their boundary at all.

Tauranga City Council communications advisor Marcel Currin says plans show the location of pipes for services TCC provides, such as water, stormwater and wastewater. 'They don't show the location of other services like power, phone or gas lines. If anyone is excavating, they need to contact their own service providers to get information about gas lines.”

Janine says a construction worker on site said he could tell the pipes had been put in the wrong place.

'But we would need to confirm that with a representative from Vector.”

Janine is now working with Vector to resolve the issue.

A Vector contractor will be on site today to determine if the mains are on the inside of the right of way or not.

Vector external communications manager Sandy Hodge says while on site yesterday carrying out repairs, their contractor noted the network in the right of way was very close to the boundary.

'This in itself is not an issue provided it is not physically inside the property. This will be verified today on site when our contractor meets with the customer.

'Regardless of where the network is, anyone using a post hole borer on the boundary cannot help but dig outside of their property as the auger diameter extends into council or neighbours property.

'Therefore, anyone carrying out an excavation in this situation must get plans and safely identify any networks in the area by careful hand digging.”

Janine told SunLive yesterday that the contractor had hand dug before using a digger and did not see any pipes.

'If the main is found to be inside the property we can relocate it if requested. We have had no issues with mains inside boundaries in Tauranga so this is very likely to be an isolated incident due to the narrowness of the ROW,” says Sandy.

'In subdivisions like this, Vector are reliant on developers to lay all utilities correctly in their designated corridor as they dig the trenches for Vector (and others).

'There are often no boundary pegs and even finished roads when we are laying new networks in trenches so it is very difficult to tell if the trench is in the right place at the time.”