Hello! I hope I have the right forum...? I'm hoping for some advice on behalf of the 5 leaseholders in my house. I live in a big old house divided into 5 flats, 3 of which have gas meters housed outside the side entrance, which itself is shared by 3 of the 5 flats. One lady on the 1st floor is moving and was told that to get a certificate her microbore gas pipe had to be replaced with a standard sized one so they did that - and routed the new gas pipe outside the building, all around the side door and up to her flat. It's hideous, words cannot describe the eyesore, it's covered in some kind of poo-coloured material (I apologise but that's the only way I can describe it) and it may as well have a neon sign on it for copper thieves. We've been victims of that before. A car once crashed into our wall right at that entrance, and the wall and gate pillar - huge chunks of brickwork - smashed into the exact area where the pipe feeds into the concrete meter housing. None of us (except the lady who had this work done, of course) believe this to be mechanically safe. She has been told by her engineers that it is not safe to route the pipe through the cellar, where the other flats' gas pipes remain, and where her old one was. She has also been told they have to choose the shortest route possible.
We've got four questions:
a. did the old pipe truly need to be replaced
b. is it "mechanically" unsafe where it has been placed because of the issues with a previous car crash and copper pipe theft
c. surely not every 'shortest route' is appropriate and I can find no reference in the literature/legislation/regs that says it's acceptable/reasonable/the unwavering law to surround the attractive Victorian entrance to someone's home with a horrific gas pipe just because it's the shortest route
d. why on earth is is unsafe to go through the cellar? I've read the legislation and the regs and can find no notes on pipes not being allowed into void spaces such as a cellar, only that it must be adequately ventilated. We would all far prefer some ventilation bricks than this monstrosity surrounding the entrance to 3 of the 5 flats.
Thanks in advance to anyone who gives us their time to answer this post!
We've got four questions:
a. did the old pipe truly need to be replaced
b. is it "mechanically" unsafe where it has been placed because of the issues with a previous car crash and copper pipe theft
c. surely not every 'shortest route' is appropriate and I can find no reference in the literature/legislation/regs that says it's acceptable/reasonable/the unwavering law to surround the attractive Victorian entrance to someone's home with a horrific gas pipe just because it's the shortest route
d. why on earth is is unsafe to go through the cellar? I've read the legislation and the regs and can find no notes on pipes not being allowed into void spaces such as a cellar, only that it must be adequately ventilated. We would all far prefer some ventilation bricks than this monstrosity surrounding the entrance to 3 of the 5 flats.
Thanks in advance to anyone who gives us their time to answer this post!