Gas Pipe in the way!

[ptphome]

Hi everyone,

I have employed a builder to knocking through a structural wall in my flat (we have engineers calcs etc, new steel lintle going in) to create a bigger passage way in my flat, which allows us to add more space to the bedroom. Unfortunately, when my builder opened up the wall he found a gas pipe right in the middle where I want to knock through.

I own the ground floor of a converted Victorian house, and this gas pipe runs from my cellar to the 1st floor flat.

Apparently it is illegal for a corgi plumber to move this pipe as it is the wrong side of the meter as the 1st floors meter is upstairs.

I got Southern Gas who supply the area to come out to quote to move the pipe and I have been given a figure of £1200 inc VAT. The figure provides for both the 1st and ground meters to me re housed outside, I am not sure why this is necessary.

This seems excessive to me considering the pipe only needs moving half a meter. I understand that Southern Gas are the only people entitled to move the pipe as they 'own' it, even though its right in the middle of my new 'potential' doorway! Surely Southern Gas should bare the majority of this cost as its their damn pipe causing an inconvenience for me!

I wondered if anyone else has been in this situation and whether there is any alternative to using Southern Gas?

Thanks

George

 

[mysteryman]

In the absence of any other reply so far, is the meter upstairs a secondary or sub meter, perhaps belonging to the property freeholder, or is it a primary meter belonging to Transco or the gas supplier?

If it is a secondary meter, a suitably registered gas fitter should be able to reroute the pipe. I am not up to date on the legalities if it is a primary meter, but anyone doing the work will need suitable regs.

Best to find out at this stage if it is a primary meter upstairs, or a secondary meter.

 

[ptphome]

thanks for your reply mysteryman.

I'm almost certain that its a primary gas meter. It looks exactly the same as mine. I will check with the upstairs flat though.

 

[cantaloup63]

In the cellar, does the incoming main pipe tee off with one going to your meter and the other to the pipe upstairs?

If it does, is there an isolating lever for the whole property before the tee-off point?

 

[namsag]

Is the pipe steel or copper.
It would be unusual for a proper service to enter a building like this , but amazing how some are done.

 

[ptphome]

Cantaloup - Yes, the main pipe tee's off, one onto my meter and other running upstairs to 1st floor flat's meter. I haven't noticed an isolating lever before the tee off point but will double check when I get home.

namsag - pipe is steel. looks like the job was done ages ago before copper became the norm.

 

[Tibbot]

Surely Southern Gas should bare the majority of this cost as its their damn pipe causing an inconvenience for me!

The pipe would no doubt have been originally installed to the satisfation of all concerned. It might be unreasonable to expect the installers to have foreseen your intented alteration plan.

Why would the cost of moving it be anyone elses responsibilty other than yours?

 

[Boilerman2]

Whenever a building project is undertaken, there is always going to be unforseen problems which have to be overcome, this ALWAYS involves Money!! and that is why a wise developer always has a contingency fund of sufficient size to deal with minor niggles like yours TBH £1200 to get all the meters moved outside??? Bargain IMHO!

 

[bengasman]

If it is the service pipe, than you can choose between leaving it as is, or paying the price to have it moved. You may not find it fair, but that is life.

 

[muggles]

Apparently it is illegal for a corgi plumber to move this pipe as it is the wrong side of the meter as the 1st floors meter is upstairs.

It's illegal for a Corgi plumber to do anything to any gas pipework or appliances at all, Corgi went west two and a half years ago, you would need a Gas Safe registered engineer (with the correct qualifications of course)

I got Southern Gas who supply the area to come out to quote to move the pipe and I have been given a figure of £1200 inc VAT. The figure provides for both the 1st and ground meters to me re housed outside, I am not sure why this is necessary.

Sounds quite a reasonable sum to me, a lot of suppliers would charge far more than that. Beware though that you'll almost certainly still need someone else to come and reconnect your upstairs neighbour's supply, as Southern Gas have probably not allowed for this in their price.

This seems excessive to me considering the pipe only needs moving half a meter.

Maybe to your eyes it does, but there could be some regulation preventing this or some other thing making it impractical, it's impossible to say without seeing any pictures though, maybe you could post some...

Surely Southern Gas should bear the majority of this cost as its their damn pipe causing an inconvenience for me!

Err...why? When the pipe was installed it was, no doubt, in a perfectly acceptable position, and it's not their fault that your building work has exposed it. That's like crashing your car into somebody's house then demanding that the homeowner should pay for the damage to your car on the basis that it would be much less damaged if their house wasn't there, IE "it's your fault because your house was in the way / it's your fault because your gas pipe is in the way".

I wondered if anyone else has been in this situation and whether there is any alternative to using Southern Gas?

Probably quite a lot of people, who will have done the sensible thing and either altered their plans or coughed up. It's unlikely you'll get it done any cheaper, even if you could find someone else to do it legally, £1200 is not a bad price at all.

 

[namsag]

Nice to see such helpfull replies .
The OP only asked a simple question FFS .

They have quoted you to re run both if yours is ok just get them to rerun the upstairs on to cut the cost.
Shame it was not leaking on exposing it as it would be done for free.

If i see some transco mates today i will ask re your situation as in an upstairs service being run through your prorperty and not being ducted.
Personally i would not pay for it and would argue the safety case.

What if you had put a nail into it to hang a picture or a wall unit etc.

 

[ptphome]

namsang thanks for your post. i know! i was starting to get quite riled by some of the smug "know it all" idiots on here. most failing to answer my initial question.

i agree with you on the safety aspect. and in fact i did nearly put a picture up close to the gas pipe!

thanks for your help, and please let me know what your transco mate says.

 

[Agile]

Its a very common situation when houses were converted into two flats around the 1960s/70s.

Its not totally correct gas wise for a gas pipe to be run up the inside of a partition wall. Bu very commonly done.

Legally, its unlikely the lease allows for this pipe. But equally it could be argued that your modifications will almost certainly need the approval of the freeholder.

If the other leaseholder objected because of the gas pipe then the freeholder would have a reason for witholding his consent UNLESS you agreed to pay to move the pipe at your cost.

Tony

 

[bengasman]

i was starting to get quite riled by some of the smug "know it all" idiots on here. most failing to answer my initial question.

You bought the flat "as is", including all defects, problems and faults, including the hidden gas service pipe. The reason you didn't know about the service pipe, is because you did not bother to pay for an extensive survey before you bought the flat. If you had had the sense to invest a couple of hundred quid on a £100,000+ investment, you would not be stuck with a £1000 surprise cost today.

Funny how the people that ( correctly ) tell you the costs are down to you are idiots, and the one chap that agrees the cost should not be yours, is your hero.

 

[ptphome]

thanks Ben, another unhelpful comment.

"I wondered if anyone else has been in this situation and whether there is any alternative to using Southern Gas? "

This was my question by the way. are you going to answer it or post more unhelpful comments?