Turning water off at the boundary. Is it a right?

[ChrisR]

Custs stopcock turns forever without closing, do they have a right to have it replaced?

I believe the answer is NO, but haven't tested it recently.

 

[muggles]

Not sure whether they have a right to it, but I'm sure it's fairly easy to persuade the supplier to get it done with the use of the right words

 

[mysteryman]

It may be a quarter turn cock.

 

[Agile]

Its not clear which cock Chris refers to.

I have heard several times that Thames Water takes the view that their street s/c is provided for THEIR convenience and if it does not work then the customer cannot expect THEM to repair it just so the customer can use it because HIS is not working ( or to enable him to repair his! ).

Of course this situation is confused as I also hear of very helpful TW people who turn off the whole street for 30 min so the customer's plumber can repair his s/c.

Another replaced the street s/c on a saturday evening at 6 pm which resulted in ME having to go and replace the customer's s/c at 8 pm which made me late for the party by which time there was little food left!

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

It's the one under the pavement, and a screw-down whihch must have broken inside.

In N London TW started concreting them in to avoid people calling them, but had to stop that practice some time ago.

 

[HERTS P&D]

I called TW for a job in North London regarding a customer with a burst lead pipe. I explained that their stopcock in the pavement was broken and not turning the water off.

They told me that any competent plumber can fix any burst pipe in a customers home. When I asked him what does he recommend he told me that he was only a telephone operator and was reading out their guide lines.

For anyone interested, it was a burst lead pipe coming up from the floor boards. I removed the floor boards, adjusted the pipe with a club hammer. Frooze the pipe, fitted a lead loc with new 15mm pipe work and new internal stopcock.

And yes I did get wet!

Andy