Gas meter regulations inside porch.

[TheCorner]

Hello,

Most folk in our street received a letter about three years ago from a company claiming that the gas meters in our property did not meet with regulation as they were housed inside the porch.

The porch was originally a brick wall so the box was on the outside(houses built approx 2001), the previous owner had the porch covered so then the box is on the inside.

Most people in the street ignored the letter as the company(GTC I believe) wanted £650 to carry out remedial work.

A representative of GTC came around today inspecting which properties still had the boxes inside.

He reckons that GTC will have the gas cut off if the changes are not made.

I looked at mine and directly under the box there is about 8" of what seems like steel pipe(its painted) that actually comes from the box and enters the brick wall which is part of the original design. I imagine that this pipe runs down the length of the wall and into the ground.

Am I legal or do I need to do anything??

Cheers
TC

 

[rjm2k]

Hmm, my folks have their gas meter in their cellar, it was even upgraded a couple of years ago by their supplier/network. Nobody ever said it wasn't to regulation.

Could just be a company scamming people, best ring your gas supplier or network to find out if it's legit.

 

[McCombi]

Im sure I remember a gas safe technical bulletin regarding changes to meter boxes that are insitu in external walls, think it was something to do with the danger of wall movement affecting the gas pipe entering the building. Sorry can't be more help. Maybe if you contact your supplier or post a pic on this site someone with better knowledge in the matter may be able to help.

 

[kirkgas]

the biggest issue with this is the installation pipework material, if its steel then it can be internal or external, if its yellow plastic it MUST be outside, and is classed as AR (at Risk) and permission is asked for to turn it off, they cant turn it off without your permission

 

[ianmcd]

If it was GTC I would say they are probably in the right they are a major gas transporter and not a scam company, if you are in doubt call the Gas safe register and ask for an independent opinion, they should keep you right free of charge

 

[MeterMonkey]

Are the GTC the transporter for your area?

If not they have no authority over your gas main.

As Kirk says, anyone carrying work out on your internal system (after the meter) requires your permission to do anything, even if an appliance is going to kill you.

However the gas transporter does not need your permission to cut off your supply.

 

[namsag]

Checked with a couple of mates on National Grid today .
Where as before this scenario was just ignored as such they are now being asked to fill in a form and notify there office about it
They are being asked if the customer has inherited the situation on buying the house or have had the work done themselves(who could prove you have not inherited it).
They are currently altering all these for free but may change for the ones who have done the alteration and still living there.

They DO NOT cut any off that they find they just notify office so i think someone from your company is trying it on

 

[TheCorner]

Okay, thanks for the replies so far.

There was a letter waiting for me when I got home last night from GTC.

It said that the issue was that the pipe which supplys my meter is sheathed in a grey poly fibre tube which they claim is illegal.

The have quoted £365 to re-position the box/pipe, I rang and explained that the pipe went into the top of the 3 foot high external wall which is now the base of the porch.

For all I know this could have been done by the original builder when the house was built.

Heres a picture of the pipe.

I'm unsure how to find out who the transporter for my area is.

Untitled

• TheCorner
• 20 Jul 2012
• 1

Thanks
TC[/img]

 

[Agile]

Its difficult to see in a photo but it looks as if the gas pipe has been incorporated into the new wall and probably with sheathing as well.

However, most sheath probably are only classed as NCS.

I remember a quite rude BG man when I advised a customer that their expensive BG installation had a non sheathed gas pipe. His attitude was that it was pre existing and they had no duty to remedy existing faults. I did not agree as I would always correct faults before installing a new boiler!

Tony

 

[TheCorner]

Its difficult to see in a photo but it looks as if the gas pipe has been incorporated into the new wall and probably with sheathing as well.

However, most sheath probably are only classed as NCS.
Tony

Thanks Tony,

The wall was part of the original build of the house, the previous owner had the windows and door added I suppose.

 

[Agile]

You may have missed my point or the photo is not showing the details.

Under the meter is apparently a pipe going downwards. That seems to go down INTO the wall ????

I should have said most sheathing issues are NCS rather than At Risk but it always depends on the details.

Tony

 

[TheCorner]

You may have missed my point or the photo is not showing the details.

Under the meter is apparently a pipe going downwards. That seems to go down INTO the wall ????

I should have said most sheathing issues are NCS rather than At Risk but it always depends on the details.

Tony

Sorry, I was under the impression that you thought the wall that the pipe goes into was new.

It does go into the wall, but it was built like that originally.

The letter does state "At Risk".

Thanks again
TC

 

[Agile]

What did the wall to the left under the window do when the house was built?

Isn't that a recently built part of the porch?

Tony

 

[namsag]

Ignore them then as at risk is basically an advisory notice and is not a cut off.

Trying to scare you into parting with cash .
The reason that plastic cannot be used for gas in houses is to do with fire but the sleeve that you have on yours is fire resistant and what is there in porch that could catch fire ? and cause any more damage to the pipe than a standard house fire and an open porch.

If they push it just ask to see relavant legislation that they can cut you off and charge you to reinstate as you need it for your visit to trading standards or the like.

 

[TheCorner]

What did the wall to the left under the window do when the house was built?

Isn't that a recently built part of the porch?

Tony

Hope this works.....it originally look similar to this.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=dh9...7NWcc_c4zPhUQQ5BiKN57g&cbp=12,308.89,,1,11.02

Now it looks like this


http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=dh9...EM_9BIhKzEbtr9Z8vozASQ&cbp=12,173.89,,0,11.02