# Gas leak !!!!



## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

My Wife rang me last night to say she could smell gas at the bottom of the stairs, i told her to ring the emergency number and within an hour somebody came out.
After checking for leaks he said he couldnt find anything but due to law had to turn the gas supply off until we can get a gas safe engineer to come out and check all appliances at a cost of £75.00.

I came home 3 hours later and saw guy was sat in his van so i went and asked him what was going on. he has already turned off gas supply to 3 of my neighbours s and tole me that he has found pin prick holes in the gas pipe on the street. I just rang the hotline and told them what has happened but the woman on the line said it is a different matter so can tbe connected to our mysterious leak.

She said i could ring back after the engineer had been and speak to the compensation team regarding our non gas leak but the holes in the gas pipe are not related !!!!!

i dont understand how they can find nothing in my house but find a leaking pipe 20 yards away thats not connected......


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

Just started digging up half the street now.


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## krissyn (Jul 27, 2014)

Doesn't turning the gas supply off involve turning off the tap in the meter box? Usually a simple matter to turn it on again.


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

If it's National Grid that have turned off your gas at the ECV (emergency control valve) at your meter and then started digging up the gas main in the street then they need to visit each property that's been affected by them disconnecting the gas supply so that they can do a purge and relight of your gas appliances.

A gas leak prior to your meter, which this looks like, is not chargeable to you.

Who is trying to charge you Mark?


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

krissyn said:


> Doesn't turning the gas supply off involve turning off the tap in the meter box? Usually a simple matter to turn it on again.


Apparently its against the law. The gas safe engineer has just come and checked the appliances and all are fine. I got a call from the gas company after giving them a crap review.
Hes sent 2 heaters and 2 hot plates that i can keep and hes going to ring me tomorrow so it sounds like hes going to compensate me for the gas check (£50) 
i have just paid.
Most of the road is dug up now and they have found 4 houses that have leaks due to dodgy pipes.
So if any of you report a gas leak/smell they will cut your gas supply until you pay for it to be checked...


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

nbray67 said:


> If it's National Grid that have turned off your gas at the ECV (emergency control valve) at your meter and then started digging up the gas main in the street then they need to visit each property that's been affected by them disconnecting the gas supply so that they can do a purge and relight of your gas appliances.
> 
> A gas leak prior to your meter, which this looks like, is not chargeable to you.
> 
> Who is trying to charge you Mark?


Its northern gas network that came out and turned the gas off. i have been charged by an engineer for checking the appliances, its a guy that did my bolier last year.


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

bradleymarky said:


> Its northern gas network that came out and turned the gas off. i have been charged by an engineer for checking the appliances, its a guy that did my bolier last year.


A leak prior to your meter is not your responsibility mate. They should be doing purge and relights after reconnecting/fixing the main outside.

I'd be kicking off to get my money back via Nthn Gas. Your gas safe engineer has just done his job and charged you for doing so.


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

nbray67 said:


> A leak prior to your meter is not your responsibility mate. They should be doing purge and relights after reconnecting/fixing the main outside.
> 
> I'd be kicking off to get my money back via Nthn Gas. Your gas safe engineer has just done his job and charged you for doing so.


It sounds like i will get my money back from NG :thumb: still a bit annoying having no heating/ hot water and nothing to cook on but its all sorted now.


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

bradleymarky said:


> It sounds like i will get my money back from NG :thumb: still a bit annoying having no heating/ hot water and nothing to cook on but its all sorted now.


Annoying buddy but gas leaks are serious business, no heating/hot water for a day is better than having an explosion due to the leak.

Glad to hear you won't be out of pocket. :thumb:


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

bradleymarky said:


> still a bit annoying having no heating/ hot water and nothing to cook on.


Yes it is, but far better than you and your family being blown to smithereens.


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## Alfieharley1 (Jun 8, 2014)

Wish I seen this post before as would have been able to get involved and sort (I'd Ring NG and wing it) but I see Neil has said everything I would.  BG Buddy


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## turbosnoop (Apr 14, 2015)

I reported a smell of gas in my house, maybe two years ago. I rang that emergency number. Someone came out, they didn't find any leak, but they didn't leave me with the gas off and tell me to arrange for my appliances to be checked??
Has some legislation changed or something?
The gas was turned on and I used everything like normal after. The smell didn't come back


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

This is all i could find on the site.
The engineer won’t leave until the situation has been made safe. However, please do be aware that our emergency engineers aren’t covered to make repairs to appliances or internal pipework. Depending on the advice you are given by the engineer, you may need to contact a Gas Safe Registered engineer to make any subsequent repairs to appliances or pipework.

Doesnt say you will have your gas supply cut off until you pay to get it checked, no appliances needed repairs. hes due to ring me now..


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

Update !!!

Just got off the phone with one of the managers and hes going to reinburse for the cost of the gas safe check.
He also said that they turned the gas off due to a possibility of a carbon monoxide leak, he said the engineer noticed that my Wife was poorly (which she was) so thought it could be that but 4 other people were in the house and all healthy.

He said that they dont normally turn gas off in that way but was blaming my Wifes illness even though they found a leaky pipe outside 4 of my neighbours houses.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

I can understand them not touching appliances and shutting gas off but if he has found no evidence of gas in your property how can he shut it off? Stories like that get around and it'll deter people from reporting gas smells due to fear of nothing being found but having to pay to get appliances checked. Surely he should say no evidence of a leak but recommend you get everything checked by a gas safe engineer. To then find a leak in the street and not come back immediately and tell you and uncap your supply is absurd.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Darlofan said:


> I can understand them not touching appliances and shutting gas off but if he has found no evidence of gas in your property how can he shut it off? Stories like that get around and it'll deter people from reporting gas smells due to fear of nothing being found but having to pay to get appliances checked. Surely he should say no evidence of a leak but recommend you get everything checked by a gas safe engineer. To then find a leak in the street and not come back immediately and tell you and uncap your supply is absurd.


Imagine the press coverage if they has reported something to the emergency hotline, the guy came out for a look and said it was fine and the whole family died of carbon monoxide poisoning that night/week/month.

The update above makes it understandable what they did.

If someone doesn't want to repost a suspected gas leak to avoid a potential £50 charge....well whey should stick to electric!


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## JB052 (Mar 22, 2008)

Natural gas doesn't have any odour, therefore a odourant is added as a safety measure so that you can hopefully smell a potential gas leak before it goes bang!

It would appear that you responded to the smell of gas by presumably phoning the 'Gas Emergency Service' who attended site with a view to making it safe for you and your family.

This they did, their gas detectors are designed to detect gas leaks which in your case they couldn't locate in the property as the leak appears to be outside the property. Since the break up of the gas industry the emergency gas response person needs to make the property safe, they are not equipped to measure products of combustion (Carbon Monoxide) therefore if someone in the property appears unwell they have no option other than to isolate the supply. A gas leak will not normally cause people to feel unwell but it will go bang with serious consequences.

It is then down to you to contact a registered gas safe engineer who is authorised to turn the supply back on once they have confirmed that your appliances are in good condition and do not pose a safety risk.

If when you called the Gas Emergency Service they had found a gas leak which could have been repaired quickly and at a reasonable cost they would have done so, free of charge.

In the mean time they have identified a perforated of cracked supply outside, which I presume they are in the process of either repairing or monitoring depending on the GIA readings they are getting. If this process takes time they have or will supply you free of charge a means of cooking and heating which you usually get to keep as its not cost effective to return it.


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Looking at your last post surely the issue could have been avoided if he'd said to your wife I can't detect a leak but you're ill so I'd suggest getting appliances checked for carbon monoxide.


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## bradleymarky (Nov 29, 2013)

My Wife told the engineer that she had been ill for a few days and she only smelt gas that evening.
He also told my Wife that he couldnt check for carbon monoxide because he`d already turned the gas off and would need to turn them back and would be unsafe, surely he should have checked for that before turning the gas supply off if he noticed she was poorly.


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## Raynkar (Dec 6, 2011)

bradleymarky said:


> My Wife told the engineer that she had been ill for a few days and she only smelt gas that evening.
> He also told my Wife that he couldnt check for carbon monoxide because he`d already turned the gas off and would need to turn them back and would be unsafe, surely he should have checked for that before turning the gas supply off if he noticed she was poorly.


What has happened to you is annoying, but don't try to make a link between your wife saying she had been ill for days but only just smelt gas. Even if there was carbon monoxide in the house it would have nothing to do with smelling gas. If the engineer really did suspect carbon monoxide (I can't say if he did or didn't) it may highlight the the fact you haven't got a carbon monoxide detector in your house! They don't cost much, but are worth their weight in gold if ever needed.

As was said above, gas can be very deadly. I've known plumbers simply get blown across a room when a flame met a leak, they got away lucky. 
One poor sod about four miles from me had his house destroyed from a gas trunk main leak. He was blown out of the house and landed in a field over a 100 metres from the bed he had been sleeping in. He too got compensation but is paralysed for life and wheelchair bound.


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

Not 100% but I don't think National Grid would routinely carry CO monitoring equipment.
They are responsible for the network up to and including the meter.


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## Juke_Fan (Jul 12, 2014)

Really depends on the National Grid engineer. I have had 3 different ones out for a potential gas leak in my boiler. First capped the gas and turned off the boiler, second turned the gas off at the meter and boiler, third left every thing on as it was.

All carried gas/co dectors and none of them found any evidence of gas or co but all did different things.


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