Replace stopcock?

Not unless the old one is faulty.. try a new washer or stop tap, they are cheap.

Why?

We have one of these fitted. I guess it will make a slight difference, but in any case they are rather less prone to jamming (and quicker to operate in an emergency).

Ours was really tricky to change because of location and pipe comfiguration, so I got the water company to do it for a fixed price. £79.99 for materials, altered pipework and 3.5 hours labour!

Which particular laws would they be?

I've done just that with mine, anyway. It hasn't made much difference to the flow, but it's made it a *lot* easier to turn the water off.

Go for it. A lot of water authorities are replacing with them and they are a joy after the horrible corroded brass tap.

Well they ate better so they are bound to break some law.

Now come on - you've got to do better than that! Posting nonsense about byelaws - without a scrap of evidence - has probably put off some people from changing their stoptap for a much better full-bore ball valve.

Please don't make thing up - it's very unhelpful to those who are looking for good ideas!

Are you sure it's made up? I have heard that only the water company is allowed to use the stopcock in the street. I also _know_ from someone else's experience that they say they no longer provide a service to do this for you (which SE needs as it requires a funny key and is stuck). They say "use a freezer spray", which SE can't do as the internal stopcock is flush to the floor.

More importantly, it's been said (probably here) that the pretty blue plastic handles on the water meter stopcocks are prone to breaking off, which could be a problem if it does so in the off position and you have to confess.

Chris

The OP would do well to use a WRAS certified valve such as

or better. As you allude to, that is the law---but also because they ought to be less prone to comical failures at inopportune moments.

BTW, there haven't been any local water byelaws in Britain since they were `unified'. See for details.

Just a word of warning: I fitted one of those (exactly as in the link) to replace a knackered stopcock and it wouldn't turn off completely, which was a pain as I was trying to isolate the supply for a while. Had to scoot and buy a 'proper' stopcock in mid-job. It was probably just the one I had, but I didn't want to spend the day swapping it and finding the new one didn't work either. I just put it down to another good idea gone wrong.....

That's something I didn't know, but I ain't a plumber, I just do the odd heating system when its too complicated for a plumber.

Are you sure it's made up? I have heard that only the water company is allowed to use the stopcock in the street. I also _know_ from someone else's experience that they say they no longer provide a service to do this for you (which SE needs as it requires a funny key and is stuck). They say "use a freezer spray", which SE can't do as the internal stopcock is flush to the floor.

More importantly, it's been said (probably here) that the pretty blue plastic handles on the water meter stopcocks are prone to breaking off, which could be a problem if it does so in the off position and you have to confess.

Chris

Why do you have to confess. Blame kids and say it happens all the time around here.

Adam

I did say "I think"... B-)

A few snippets of information filed away to be checked for accuracy before using.