Working with gas legality
 

The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
to employ a CORGI fitter if the work that you carry out is done competently.
I guess that in the ultimate circumstances a court would decide if you had
been competent.

However does anyone know if the above is also true for the following
specific circumstance:

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

I hope that those of you who don't like your neighbours would not dream of
using the above to land them with a CORGI McWhopper invoice :-)

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 09:49:00 GMT, "mickael"
wrote:

So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

Assuming for the moment that competency _is_ acceptable, then a
"competent" person would be required to perform the necessary tests,
rather than just switching it back on again (I presume some sort of
leakdown test with a manometer is performed, but I know nothing of
such things).

I doubt very much that "Well I can't smell aything" or "It was alright
beforehand" would be a defensible basis for a "competent" person to
argue their competency.

--
Smert' spamionam

mickael wrote:
The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
snip
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.



So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

Think about the wording.
Would you want to continue to use an unsafe appliance/installation?
If you verify (manometer/...) that it is safe before turning it back on,
then there is no "continue to use", as it's now not faulty.

"mickael" wrote in message ...
The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
to employ a CORGI fitter if the work that you carry out is done competently.
I guess that in the ultimate circumstances a court would decide if you had
been competent.

However does anyone know if the above is also true for the following
specific circumstance:

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

I hope that those of you who don't like your neighbours would not dream of
using the above to land them with a CORGI McWhopper invoice :-)

I would normally swich off the gas before going on holiday. ;-)A CORGI
landlords inspection would provide evidence of the systems safe operation
at a reasonable cost. The onus would then rest with the CORGI rather than
the 'competent' individual.


Jason

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 09:49:00 +0000, mickael wrote:

The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
to employ a CORGI fitter if the work that you carry out is done competently.
I guess that in the ultimate circumstances a court would decide if you had
been competent.

However does anyone know if the above is also true for the following
specific circumstance:

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

Transco are quite right to have put a Concern for Safety notice. As they
were unable to gain access to your house they could only test the pipe
work.

If you had a boiler, say, with a permanent pilot light it could have been
leaking after the gas valve. Transco turned off the pilot valve dropped
out and they tested the pipes up to the gas valve. Admittedly this is not
likely and a big leak would likely have been ignited by the pilot flame.

In addition to reapeating Trasco's test an inspection of the applinaces
will have to be made.

For less than £100 (likely more around £60) you could ask for a Landlords'
Safety Record. You can then wave it under your neighbour's nose if they
accuse your house of leaking gas again.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at 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

"mickael" wrote in message ...
The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
to employ a CORGI fitter if the work that you carry out is done competently.
I guess that in the ultimate circumstances a court would decide if you had
been competent.

However does anyone know if the above is also true for the following
specific circumstance:

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

So is it an offence or does the competency thing apply?

I hope that those of you who don't like your neighbours would not dream of
using the above to land them with a CORGI McWhopper invoice :-)

If it hasnt been tested, how can you know if its safe or not?

NT

"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
.co.uk...
On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 09:49:00 +0000, mickael wrote:

Transco are quite right to have put a Concern for Safety notice. As they
were unable to gain access to your house they could only test the pipe
work.

If you had a boiler, say, with a permanent pilot light it could have been
leaking after the gas valve. Transco turned off the pilot valve dropped
out and they tested the pipes up to the gas valve. Admittedly this is not
likely and a big leak would likely have been ignited by the pilot flame.

In addition to reapeating Trasco's test an inspection of the applinaces
will have to be made.

For less than £100 (likely more around £60) you could ask for a Landlords'
Safety Record. You can then wave it under your neighbour's nose if they
accuse your house of leaking gas again.

how would that prevent a repeat of the exact same circumstances while the OP
was away?

Jim A

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 10:41:26 +0100, "Ed Sirett"
wrote:

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 09:49:00 +0000, mickael wrote:

The question of legality in carrying out work on your own installation has
been covered before in this NG. The consensus has been that you do not have
to employ a CORGI fitter if the work that you carry out is done competently.
I guess that in the ultimate circumstances a court would decide if you had
been competent.

However does anyone know if the above is also true for the following
specific circumstance:

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Where did they turn it off? is the meter external ?

"mickael" wrote in message ...

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

Have you tried talking to Transco and asking them to come back (free)?
The situation where they can't get in and don't have enough
justification for breaking the door down can't be that unusual.
Indeed, I'm surprised there isn't a 4th category to cover it.

I hope that those of you who don't like your neighbours would not dream of
using the above to land them with a CORGI McWhopper invoice :-)

Indeed; this seems such a good ruse for malicious neighbours, that I'm
sure Transco should have thought of it. Unless you have reason to
believe otherwise, I'm sure your neighbours acted in your best
interests and you still don't know they did _not_ stop you returning
to a pile of rubble.

As to d-i-y, I think I would turn off the electrics in case of sparks.
Then if possible isolate anything that has a pilot, turn on the gas
and have a good sniff round. If you _do_ smell gas, then you know you
have a problem and will probably have to take the McWhopper route
unless it's something obvious like a tap not fully off. If you don't
smell gas after a reasonable period of time, then see what Transco
say, as above. Probably best not to tell them about your d-i-y -- turn
the gas off again, open a few windows (brrr) in case there is gas
somewhere and don't light up or turn the electrics back on for a
while.

Chris

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 04:05:06 -0700, Chris Doran wrote:

"mickael" wrote in message ...



Indeed; this seems such a good ruse for malicious neighbours, that I'm
sure Transco should have thought of it. Unless you have reason to
believe otherwise, I'm sure your neighbours acted in your best
interests and you still don't know they did _not_ stop you returning
to a pile of rubble.

As to d-i-y, I think I would turn off the electrics in case of sparks.
Then if possible isolate anything that has a pilot, turn on the gas
and have a good sniff round. If you _do_ smell gas, then you know you
have a problem and will probably have to take the McWhopper route
unless it's something obvious like a tap not fully off. If you don't
smell gas after a reasonable period of time, then see what Transco
say, as above. Probably best not to tell them about your d-i-y -- turn
the gas off again, open a few windows (brrr) in case there is gas
somewhere and don't light up or turn the electrics back on for a
while.

NO NO NO! The correct procedures are laid down in the FAQ.

The issue we have here is that the OP has reasonable grounds to suspect
that there is no real leak but he has malicious crafty neighbours.
The OP has to make his own decision. Having the gas installation
checked out at least once (it may well bring up some non-pipework issues)
may give him the confidence to restore the supply and relight the
appliances the next time he is 'hit'.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at 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