just moved into our new home which was 'mothballed' by a property maintenance company for a few weeks.
When we had the gas meter changed from key to normal, the gas man said that the supply had been 'capped off' and we would need a Corgi fitter to recommision it.
What exactly is this 'capping off'?
There is no obvious external sign.
Has a barrier of some sort been inserted into the pipework on the output side of the meter?
I have turned the gas fire part of the Baxi Bermuda boiler on briefly, but there doesn't seem to be any flow of gas.
Have you tried the main gas c*ck? Have they removed the handle? Is there a blank plate put in the connection to the meter - easy to remove. If they complain later just say you know nowt about it it was already done etc.
Ours was just a split pin to stop the main stopcock being opened IIRC. Corgi fitter just said "don't watch this" when he "uncapped" by pulling the pin and turning the lever.
The main gas tap (handle on the supply side of the meter) turns on and off fine. First time on there was a slight hiss (probably the diaphragm thing taking up pressure?).
There is no obvious sign of a blockage - that is why I was wondering if there could be a blanking plate inside somewhere.
I was looking for information on how 'blanking off' was normally done (thanks to other posters as well).
I think we ought to have the boiler checked and serviced anyway so a Corgi guy will no doubt be round in time.
Now struggling with the temptation to unscrew the meter and have a look :-)
Normally when meterwork is done,if the engineer finds that the supply has been sealed,then he does the meterwork and then refits the seal. He may also seal the supply if he finds that there is part of the gas installation that requires further attention eg a new appliance which requires commissioning.
The reason for this is that the Gas transporter (probably National Grid-formally national grid transco) responisbility ends at the emergency control valve and therefore they do not commision appliances.
The normal practice is to fit a blanking disc in the meter outlet union or other connection.
The idea then is that the person who has removed this disc ( i.e a competent person) has permitted gas to flow within the meaning of the GSIUR and therefore must also commision all connected appliances,test for soundness and otherwise ensure that all appliances are working correctly.
Presumably the property maintenance co had previously blanked the supply and maybe you need to reconct them to do a test and turn on installation/commision appliances?
"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@talk21.com:
My hovel was alleged to have gas; after moving in I found there was none.
I'd been "capped off".
Then there was an utter nightmare with British Gas; (it was great to dance on their grave as Barnet sank...)
The pipe was disconnected at the streen main, and a plug screwed in the hole in the big pipe.
Should have been simple to reverse.... but this is BG.
It cost big bucks to get a pothylene liner put through the existing cast iron pipe, and took nearly a month in the depth of winter while I had flu and pleurisy
If it hadn't been for one bloke (Steve Thacker), who gave me his office number, and industriously chasing the useless morons and workexperience clowns who anwered the phone (always promptly, and then put it down again and went back to sleep without even realising they'd been conscious) I'd be still trying 8 years on. I'm glad to say Steve survived the shakeout, he must be the only guy that deserved to.
I would have thought that the police had recruited all BG's staff, but I don't think they had the criminal aptitude required for a copper, though they are brilliant on wasteofspaceness.
I hope you have better luck on connection, but that's what capping off meant to me
If you remove the blanking plate (a metal disc positioned in the outlet of the meter) then the responsibility rests with you to ensure that the rest of the gas installation is up to scratch.
That means the same as commissioning each and every appliance and also checking the pipework, then testing for gas tightness. Purging the air/gas from the pipes. For each and every appliance you will be checking that it gas supply, combustion air, ventilation requirements, flue, safety and normal controls are in order, plus anything else the manufacturers specify as part of their commissioning schedule.
Having read various threads/postings/comments here and elsewhere it seemed sensible to get a Baxi engineer out to the Baxi boiler/fire.
However (after struggling with a tele op who seemed unable to think) I established that:
(a) HeatTeam cannot come and service a boiler unless it is already working. (b) They only do fixed price quotes for repairs. (c) They can't commision the gas supply (see above).
So I would have to get a local Corgi engineer to commision the gas supply, which only supplies the boiler (presumably during all the testing etc. doing most of the work of an annual service) and then get Baxi to come out and service.
Looks like the local Corgi guy/gal can get to do the lot then.
If I can find one.
I presume all Gas Heating Engineers who advertise in Yellow Pages have to be Corgi certified?
I would be very surprised if the yellow pages check at all. However, to be able to work on gas for money, you need Corgi certification, or are there any other certifying authorities - what's the situation with foreign gas fitters?
Normally when meterwork is done,if the engineer finds that the supply has been sealed,then he does the meterwork and then refits the seal. He may also seal the supply if he finds that there is part of the gas installation that requires further attention eg a new appliance which requires commissioning.
The reason for this is that the Gas transporter (probably National Grid-formally national grid transco) responisbility ends at the emergency control valve and therefore they do not commision appliances.
The normal practice is to fit a blanking disc in the meter outlet union or other connection.
The idea then is that the person who has removed this disc ( i.e a competent person) has permitted gas to flow within the meaning of the GSIUR and therefore must also commision all connected appliances,test for soundness and otherwise ensure that all appliances are working correctly.
Presumably the property maintenance co had previously blanked the supply and maybe you need to reconct them to do a test and turn on installation/commision appliances?
If they aren't registered but they claim to be that's fraud and there are penalities for it, (if caught).
AFAIK and from what I've seen the colleges are telling the would be Gas Fitters from (say) Eastern Europe. "You need to work under super vision of a registered fitter and complete 'n' job sheets and have them countersigned. 'n' varies from college to college.
This together with the the effective need to be quite proficient in English will keep them from being registered for a little while longer. [You need to be able to answer a few hundred multiple choice questions about the gas regs etc.]
In a house I rented the meter was in the cupboard under the stairs and the incoming gas main had been detached from the meter and the end sealed with a very conspicuous cap.
We wanted our gas meter moving so as to be readable from outside. BG said they would do it but warned us they would test the incoming gas main for leaks (it was plastic and only 14 years old), and were there any they would disconnect the service there and then.
We had just had a brand new concrete block drive laid and they said if it needed a new pipe they'd have to rip it up over about 30 feet out to the road. Naturally we didn't want to get blown up in a gas explosion, but we didn't want our newly laid drive wrecked either.
OTOH BG were quite prepared to cancel the meter job, not do the test, and walk away, no matter what the condition of the gas pipe.
There was a 'cap' like the one in the mouth of an old style oil can - just a thin piece of tin - on the output side of the meter.
All Corgied up and working now. I have a certificate to prove it.
Cost me £110 plus a new piezo igniter to have it all done, which isn't bad for the amount of time the bloke spent checking for pressure drops and cleaning all the sh*t out of the boiler and fire.
He also checked all the header tanks and stuff, and gave what seems like good advice generally.
I have my first contender to quote for the new system when it goes in.
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