external gas meter box

[coffeeman]

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and hope someone can give me a bit of advice.

My gas meter is fixed to my external house wall but within a lean-to garage. It is not recessed into the wall, it is mounted on a steel plate fixed directly to the brickwork at a height of 1800mm. The incoming gas pipe comes vertically from the floor to the same height as the top of the meter but 200mm to the right of it and connects into the top of the meter with a 'bendy' metal pipe. The cut-off lever is at the top of the rigid vertical pipe. The outgoing pipe comes from the top of the meter and bends left after about 600mm then runs along the garage wall and into the kitchen wall further along.

I want to have the garage dismantled which would leave the exposed meter outside.

I obviously want to box the meter in securely with a lockable door for access (I assume this is legally necessary too?).

Now, most boxes I have seen for sale online assume the incoming pipe comes in from below and the outgoing pipe goes straight into the brickwork rather than back out of the box. Is it possible to buy boxes that simply slot over full meters and bolt to the wall, with a means of cutting out holes where the piping needs to go?

Alternatively is it allowed to make your own slot-over box? It would be no problem for me to make a secure, weather-proof, lockable wooden box to fully enclose the meter, flexible pipe and cut-off lever which I could fit without disturbing any of the pipework.

Or any other suggestions?

hope this makes sense, with apologies for not knowing the correct jargon!!

cheers Alan

[Stuart]

Could you not build a little housing made of matching brick ( matching your house) with a metal door which can be secured with the same lock as used for otside meter boxes to allow the meter reader to open it when he/she calls .

Stuart .

[Lobster]

Well it certainly needs nothing other than the standard triangular lock/key that the gas-meter readers carry; whether you're allowed to leave it totally unlocked I don't know. If it's on your land away from the public footpath where vandals could wreak havoc, I expect it's probably OK unlocked.

David

[the_constructor]

You are responsible for the safe enclosure of the gas meter, according to the chap at Transco whom I spoke to earlier this year.

[Psst]

Your best option would probably be to engage your joinery skills and make a wooden weatherproof box yourself. Fiddling about trying to fit a standard surface monut meter box would be too much trouble as the connections arent right and they would need alteration which means ££££

joe

[coffeeman]

thanks for all the suggestions, my preference would definitely be to build my own box which I would be competant to do - just wondering whether there are any regulations about meter boxes that I would need to work to?

I would look into fixing a standard recessed meter cover onto my box so it locked with a normal meter-reader's key. Any thoughts?

thanks again

Alan

Psst wrote:

[Ed Sirett]

Ask the owners of the meter what they would be happy with. Whilst the enclosure is the freeholders responsibility its requirements will be set down by Transco.

It would be a straight forward job to reroute the outlet gas pipe to suit the box.

[Lobster]

Try this lot: they may have a box to suit, or I note you can even buy the locks (and other parts) separately:

David