4millibar leak gas shut off

[LimboJimbo]

I had a routine annual boiler check and he said it was working perfectly. Unfortunately, when he was testing the meter he found a 4 millibar leak. Now the gas for the house is turned off. He didn't investigate where the leak came from and asked us to rip up our floors to find the leak and that they will arrange to come back. There are only 2 appliances which are connected to gas (fireplace and boiler). Here are my question:

1. Shouldn't he have tested these appliances first to see where the leak could have been before the turned it off for the entire house and capped off where the leak is coming from?

1. Should they be asking me to rip up the floor so early on when they haven't even checked the fireplace and other openings?

2. He hasn't given me a certificate to say the boiler has been checked and no issue. He didn't find any problems with the boiler so can he give me the certificate for the boiler at least?

1. What is their duty of care after they turn off my gas? I'm trying to arrange with them a visit to investigate the leak and next steps but they have ignored calls and messages. I have no heating or hot water and it's been 4 days.

Any information will be helpful as I don't want to rip up all my floors if they haven't even bothered to investiage if it's the appliances.

Thank you

[micky]

Check by whom? The county? Someone you hired? Why did you hire him?

By the guy who did the inspection? Or by someone else.

No matter how he phrased it, I would consider the "asking us" to be a suggestion of what might be necessary, and not an order or request.

Typically, that is similar to other posters, you don't say what state and county/city or even what country you live in so no one can check on what the proper procedures are there. Do you think you're on the Tonight Show and not allowed to mention shows on other networks?

If he was from the county, you could call the county and ask questions about their procedures. But no matter what they say, you still have a leak. I presume you should hire a plumber to find that leak, and hope that it's not under the floor. If it is under the floor, in a pipe going to the fireplace, he can disconnect** the fireplace and take the cap off the line to the furnace. **I have some vague recollection that disconnect might mean cutting off the pipe some specified distance from its supply pipe, but I might be thinking of spaghetti. It's certainly not enough to put in a valve and close the valve.

I don't know. I don't know who hired him to check in the first place.

One certainly can't answer that question without knowing who turned off the gas, or what their proposed remedy was.

Did they leave you any paperwork? Read every line. It might say what they expect you to do.

Who is them? In many cases, the county inspects and private contractors fix.

You don't say what kind of messages.

[knuckledragger]

You'll prolly have to hire a licensed plumber to fix the leak. Once the "authorities" are involved, DIY is usually off the table.

It might be cheaper just to snake a new CSST gas line under the house...or maybe run a new gas line on the outside of the house?

[trader_4]

Like others have said, who is "they"? Most of those questions can't be answered without knowing who did this inspection. One obvious thing though is that you are correct that if they did not do any investigation, eg to see if the leak is in a flex connection to a stove, then talking about ripping up floors is nuts. Also, IDK what kind of inspector does a test like that and then finding a pressure loss, does not take out a sniffer and go looking for the leak. If he did along all lines that are accessible, then I can see talking about tearing up floors. But before I did that, I would absolutely rule out everything else, repeat the test, and then finally separate the line before and after where it's inaccessible, run the test again without that segment, etc.

I had the gas company here do a routing meter swap. They had to re-light the WH pilot afterwards. The gas company guy claimed that he could smell gas as he walked over to the WH in the basement. I'm in the basement frequently, walk the same path, never smelled anything and I didn't smell anything that day either. He took out his sniffer, traced the gas line from where it comes in the house and found a tiny leak about

15 feet from the WH. I was very lucky, because it happened to be the plug on a tee and all he had to do was tighten it a little more. If it had be an connection in the middle of that long run, that would have been a big problem, at least for me since I don't have pipe cutting and threading tools. I'm still skeptical that he smelled gas though and that it was from that, not the pilot light not being lit yet, etc. If he did he has a nose far more sensitive than mine because this was a very tiny leak. His sniffer only went off with it right next to the leak.

[Ed Pawlowski]

His obligation is to mitigate danger. If the leak is on your side of the meter it is your responsibility to have it repaired. Usually has to be a licensed gas fitter.

Could be regulations to shut off the gas until repaired. If this is just an appliance guy he may not have the credentials to do anything else.

Can't say without seeing it. His job is to stop the gas leak and prevent an explosion. Anything else exposes him to liability. Your job is to get it fixed.