Gas Meter box full with water

[Scott Tolmie]

Hi guys, I no nothing about plumbing or gas before I start. I bought a new persimmon home last year, I noticed by gas box was filling with water because a slope runs into it, I asked permisson to fix this and they decided to drill holes in the box to allievate the water. I was then advised by someone this is not allowed and should be a sealed unit. I then phoned independent pipelines who fitted the service. They blamed persimmon but said they would try this box within a box solution. When engineer arrived he said this couldnt be done because of box type but he advised there are issues because box has holes, the meter will corrode and the regulator is alreading looking dody. I phoned Gas Safe who told me to phone scottish power my supplier, I told them the box is full of water they said we dont care, we will replace the meter but wont look at the long term issue of it filling with water. Persimmon blame service installer and service installer blame persimmon. Who is to blame and I cannot beleive that my gas supplier are not interested. They advised they dont do gas safety checks free. Are there any safety concerns I should have or is all the stuff sealed really good. What can I do.

 

[muggles]

Gas Safe will come and do a free safety inspection if you ask them to. Other than that, call 0800 111 999 for advice

 

[Scott Tolmie]

Mate I phoned Gas Safe today, the guy had a really bad attitude and said they wont do anything and told me to contact my supplier, I phoned my supplier who are also not interested, I honestly astonished and dont no what to do next.

 

[muggles]

http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help/make_a_complaint.aspx

 

[Scott Tolmie]

Who would I complain about, persimmon or Independent pipelines who instructed a company called Clancy I think it is.

 

[gazfen]

Forget about it till you smell gas

 

[muggles]

Complain about whoever carried out the work

 

[MrTherm]

They are all passing the buck! - going round and round in ever decreasing circles and finally disappearing up there own portholes.

The service began to deteriorate following the gas transportation bill when gas companies stopped having area district inspectors, that dealt with any practical complaints, were done away with. Because of this and a rising number of disputes the ombudsman system was instigated.

Energy ombudsman service deal with many disputes.

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html

Suggestion:- It may help if you mention to your energy supplier that you intend to put the matter to the energy ombudsman and (because they will be aware that the ombudsman will investigate them) they might find a speedier solution beforehand!

 

[Scott Tolmie]

Serious, forget about till I smell gas, just let meter after meter corrode for the next 30,40 year, also as I said so do I complain about, they both done work. Mr therm is correct, both passing the buck.

 

[gazfen]

Pay for a service alteration to have it moved onto the wall, they are your only choices, there's loads of meters like yours. Ground boxes should never have been used in the first place

 

[Scott Tolmie]

Sorry but I didn't do the install, why should I pay 7-900£ to move something that wasn't done properly and was reported, don't think so. As long as it's safe and Scottish power are happy to constantly replace the meter then I may leave it as it is, in my profession I could never get away with this sort of attitude, it simply wouldn't be tolerated.

 

[AGAS]

two choices
1 pay for it to be moved
2 leave it and inform gas supplier periodically to inspect

 

[Scott Tolmie]

I will seek legal advice, it was reported from day 1 and have proof of this, to serious a problem to let it go and gas engineer agrees it's wrong and should be fixed.

 

[BigSnoopy01]

ill tell you how it works on new builds. The company installing the main does not fit the gas box the builder has to have it fitted before they arrive. The builder does not want to pay the plumbing contractor to fit it so its not part of the plumbing contractors package. Then the site agent will either ask the plumbing contractor to fit it on a day work that probably wont get paid anyway or will ask his labourer to borrow some tools and fit it to the wall to save paying somebody. Whoever it is that finally fits the box then asks the site agent and ground workers what the finished ground level will be to which is needed to get the water level/ box correct. Most of the time neither the site agent or gorund worker will commit to measurement so the box is fitted with guesswork. Then the gas main get connected to the box, the groundworks come along and finish the ground level higher that expected and the meter box gets full of water.

In the end the main builder/ contractor is liable for all the work done, its there problem if its been done wrong by somebody else as your contract is with them and not any sub contractor they may have used. Dont take any excuse from them. If you brought a tv from currys and it had a faulty plug you would not expect to have to speak the the bloke on the production line who fitted the plug. your contract is with currys.

 

[gas112]

As gazfen says there is thousands and thousands of boxes like this its just groundwater and nothing at all can be done about it,its just the nature of these boxes in certain ground conditions . Safety concerns none really yeah the meter will take years to corrode and anything excessive will be reported by the meter reader and acted on that day , you may even have a plastic meter which are common in groundboxes
you are getting all worked up over nothing