Capped Gas Supply

pmununity

Help! I live in a block of flats and many of my neighbours have gas central heating. I have decided to put central heating in, but the supply has been capped. Southern Gas Networks told me that it is not possible to uncap it. Unfortunately I've already left a deposit of £1700 for central heating and they were due tomorrow to install it (I have postponed it) I also have a kitchen fitter due in on Wednesday to work around the central heating, so time is of the essence.

Is there anyway I can get uncapped and metered quickly?

Any help much appreciated.

whichwhydoIturn

if it is not possible maybe there is a health issue( ventilation) or pipe safety.have you spoken to a gas safety engineer,to see if they can advise you? just a thought

utility_csa

Do you know why SGN have capped your supply?

thats the first thing you need to do.

and most gas safe registered engineers will be able to uncap it for you.

pmununity

utility_csa wrote: »

Do you know why SGN have capped your supply?

thats the first thing you need to do.

and most gas safe registered engineers will be able to uncap it for you.

Thanks. It was capped over 8 years ago (perhaps much longer), they said they couldn't uncap it because they would have to cut the supply to the block which would mean re-fitting new pipes to each flat. They said there may be a special tool to do uncap it. I'm waiting to hear back from them, but I wanted to do some of my own research first, so at least I know what I'm talking about.

utility_csa

yeah, youll have to have a new live supply fitted to your flat at least.

after that amount of time, the supply will be completely dead and unusable.

pmununity

utility_csa wrote: »

yeah, youll have to have a new live supply fitted to your flat at least.

after that amount of time, the supply will be completely dead and unusable.

But there are several other flats using the same supply in the block, so the supply to the block and up through it is fine. It's a matter of my flat getting access to that pipe (that runs up through my kitchen).

utility_csa

pmununity wrote: »

But there are several other flats using the same supply in the block, so the supply to the block and up through it is fine. It's a matter of my flat getting access to that pipe (that runs up through my kitchen).

unfortunately my limited knowledge on supply isnt great, however youll def need a new supply pipe into your property atleast. anything about metering and i could tell you ;(.

best bet to call sgn or national grid (0845 605 6677)

lemontart

where in the country is the property ? if capped for 8 years sorry but as another poster has said you will need a new supply installing as your own service will no longer be live or the pipe fit for purpose after that period. Once the new supply is fitted by your gas network then you can register with a gas supplier of choice and they will arrange for your meter to be installed and the supply turned on.

I deal with questions like yours on a daily basis as I work for National Grid

aj_the_red

I would def get a ng or other utility engineer to take a look first before giving up.

It can depend on a few factors , basicly is the service live you must find that out first.Because its capped it doesnt mean its dead , what type of cap is fitted?Is it a brass cap or can you spin the can with your hand?they used to seal old main taps with a spin cap.

Do you have a main tap fitted?is the major question if so you should be able to get the service resetablished.

Flats can be different to normal props in that if your service is live and you are say a top floor flat , you couldnt get a new service put in until the old one is cut off outside the prop as you cannot have 2 live services to a property.So that would mean poss cutting all the flats off and putting new services to them all.

So get an engineer there first just to look then you will know where you are