This week we are having new gas service pipes installed. We received several leaflets explaining what was happening, and were advised that once the pipe was connected up, the gas supply would be left off and we would then receive a visit from a gas certified engineer to test the supply and all appliances. If all was ok, the supply would be turned on.
The procedure at my house went ok, but my elderly neighbour had to go out today, so he left his garage door open. The gas meter is on a wall inside the garage.
After all the engineers had left for the day, I noticed my neighbour struggling to close his garage door. I went across to see if I could help. What I saw appalled me. The meter was supported only by the pipework, the outlet pipe was soldered lead. There was no bracket securing the meter to the wall, and it was sast on a small plastic tray and resting on about ten broken tiles.
When he closed the garage door, the metalwork rubbed against the face of the meter, causing the meter and pipework to move. My neighbour insisted another couple of tiles would solve the problem but I insisted he calls the emergency number and gets an engineer out to sort the problem. However being a rather stubborn elderly gentleman, he refused and said he would see the engineers next morning when they returned to site. He further said that the supply was turned off, so there could be no problems. However when I checked the tap, it was most definitely in the on position.
There are a couple of issues which concern me. The engineer must surely have seen the state of the meter and made some arrangements to have it rectified urgently. But more importantly, the engineer had not been inside the house to check the appliances. My neighbour has a gas cooker and gas fire, which he could have inadvertently left on when he went out for the day. These should have been checked before the supply was turned on.
Well thats my rant for the day.
The procedure at my house went ok, but my elderly neighbour had to go out today, so he left his garage door open. The gas meter is on a wall inside the garage.
After all the engineers had left for the day, I noticed my neighbour struggling to close his garage door. I went across to see if I could help. What I saw appalled me. The meter was supported only by the pipework, the outlet pipe was soldered lead. There was no bracket securing the meter to the wall, and it was sast on a small plastic tray and resting on about ten broken tiles.
When he closed the garage door, the metalwork rubbed against the face of the meter, causing the meter and pipework to move. My neighbour insisted another couple of tiles would solve the problem but I insisted he calls the emergency number and gets an engineer out to sort the problem. However being a rather stubborn elderly gentleman, he refused and said he would see the engineers next morning when they returned to site. He further said that the supply was turned off, so there could be no problems. However when I checked the tap, it was most definitely in the on position.
There are a couple of issues which concern me. The engineer must surely have seen the state of the meter and made some arrangements to have it rectified urgently. But more importantly, the engineer had not been inside the house to check the appliances. My neighbour has a gas cooker and gas fire, which he could have inadvertently left on when he went out for the day. These should have been checked before the supply was turned on.
Well thats my rant for the day.
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