Warning from Gas Engineer 'Yellow PE Pipework showing'

[andruec]

I had my boiler serviced yesterday and the engineer left me with a warning title 'Yellow PE Pipework showing'. It relates to the service pipe as shown below:

This is a property built in the early 1990s and as far as I know it's always been like that and I've lived here for over 20 years. A quick look around the neighbourhood shows similar on all the gas meter boxes I can see. There has been some ground shrinkage over the decades with grey foundation bricks visible on a few houses.

The paperwork left with me has 'At Risk: (Dangerous)' ticked and at the bottom of that 'Engineer advised to turn off the supply permission was:' and he's ticked 'refused'. In point of fact he didn't suggest that the supply be turned off and his only comment was to discuss it with SGN.

Is this something I should be discussing with them or just something that a particularly thoughtful engineer has noticed and felt obliged to point out as 'not being quite right'?

 

[denso13]

Is this something I should be discussing with them or just something that a particularly thoughtful engineer has noticed and felt obliged to point out as 'not being quite right'?

Strictly speaking he did the right thing, but he could also have moved the sleeve back up to cover the exposed pipe.

 

[andruec]

Strictly speaking he did the right thing, but he could also have moved the sleeve back up to cover the exposed pipe.

Ah, he did say he'd tried to do that but the sleeve wouldn't move.

 

[denso13]

Ah, he did say he'd tried to do that but the sleeve wouldn't move.

Ok, should have added that this bit below isn't right, he shouldn't have done that.

ticked and at the bottom of that 'Engineer advised to turn off the supply permission was:' and he's ticked 'refused'

 

[polesapart]

1 The PE pipe and sleeve do not belong you, they are the responsibilty of the gas transporter, up to and including the meter.
2 Turning off at the control valve next to the meter would achieve nothing,

 

[gas112]

Give SGN a call and the will come out try and move the sleeve if no play then they should wrap the the exposed pipe

 

[gas112]

From the book .

Pipework suitable for gas used in an inappropriate location and/or situation:

Situation 1. installation pipework ........... im not putting it as doesnt apply here

situation 2 service/service pipework.

For situation 2 regarding service/service pipework, see Gas Safe Register Technical Bulletin TB 003.
In situation 2 where the situation is classified as At Risk, turning off will NOT remove the Risk and a “Danger Do Not Use” label is NOT to be attached.3.11

 

[andruec]

Cheers guys! I've had a response from SGN and they are going to arrange a time to come out and take a look. Could be quite amusing since I went out for a longer walk today and the only houses where I couldn't see exposed pipework were later build phases (2000s on) so there could be several hundred houses on my part of the estate with this problem. Could it just be the way it was done back then? Seems unlikely - if you're going to the bother/requirement of adding a sleeve surely you'd make it long enough in the first place?

 

[denso13]

if you're going to the bother/requirement of adding a sleeve surely you'd make it long enough in the first place?

Probably long enough, it has just slipped down a bit, whether by ground settling or something else.

 

[gas112]

They will prob cover it over with donkey dick ........that is the term the guys use for the stuff they use if you see them doing it you will understand