Hi all,

A friend of mine is a landlord of three flats. Upon a recent British
Gas inspection, he was told that all was okay, but it would be advisable
for each flat to have a gas stopcock inside (all three are currently
together downstairs). He's a little green on these issues so I said I'd
ask here. Is this a good idea or are British Gas trying to waste his
money (I don't know if they'd do the work themselves)? How much should
this type of thing cost?

Antony

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 18:14:22 +0100, Antony Gelberg wrote:

Hi all,

A friend of mine is a landlord of three flats. Upon a recent British
Gas inspection, he was told that all was okay, but it would be advisable
for each flat to have a gas stopcock inside (all three are currently
together downstairs). He's a little green on these issues so I said I'd
ask here. Is this a good idea or are British Gas trying to waste his
money (I don't know if they'd do the work themselves)? How much should
this type of thing cost?

This is another of those areas where the rules are regularly observed "in
the breach". If the meter control valve is not accessible (which might be
because the meter is in a locked meter cupboard etc.etc.) then there
needs to be a readily accessible shut off near where the pipe enters
the dwelling.

There is a good chance that high minority of flats (including quite a few
new builds not just cheapskate conversions) would be in breach of this reg.

The work should not cost a huge amount if it's done by someone other than
BG.

It's hard to say how much this would cost but the materials are less than
a fiver for each flat. It would depend on how accessible the incoming
pipework was and whether there was any 'give' in it. £150 would seem a
likely figure if there is access to all three on the same day.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html