Who else can move my exterior gas metre?

Curryeater

New service connections are subsidised by the domestic connection allowance which the Network operator can recover from OFGEM.

The true cost of a new service connection is closer to £2000 than the £600 you would be charged.

The Networks are not allowed to charge anything they want, they are very heavily monitored by OFGEM and can only charge what it will cost them plus a reasonable overhead.

Companies who are qualified and allowed to do these works can be found on the http://www.lloydsregister.co.uk/schemes/girs/providers-list.aspx website.

lemontart

WhiteHorse wrote: »

Interesting ... my supplier still refers to Transco in their correspondence.

In any event, Transco seems to have been replaced by National Grid. On their website, they state that they own the UK high pressure gas network.

http://www.nationalgrid.com/corporate/About+Us/Our+History/

I know many still call it transco - but heho many still refer to British Gas as the gas board and that went over 20 yrs ago so early days yet.

lemontart

lemontart wrote: »

I know many still call it transco - but heho many still refer to British Gas as the gas board and that went over 20 yrs ago so early days yet.

oops forgot to add the op will not be connected direct to the high pressure pipes so still not national grid or transco ...............

chanz4

SGN will own that part of the network, not national grid. The property may need a dig at the road to move the supply, this involves public notices etc it costs a fortune

C_Mababejive

Much of the cost of such works are those which are related to excavation in the public highway. There is procedural documentation and notices to be issued to the local authority,the road has to be excavated and then reinstated to the correct specification as set out by the highways authority. That takes time and costs money. The actual bit with regard to running some new pipework is the cheap bit !

A lot of people think you just dig a hole,do the work and shovel all the much back in and pat it down with a spade but its more involved than that.


Why does the meter have to be moved anyway?

chucky1972

Noted, mention of the name of the employee working for SGN was a mistake. He is after all just doing his job. My further inquiries have led me to a new place. It is indeed SGN that owns the network in this part of London. There is no need for any road permits or road excavation it is as simple as dig a hole fit a pipe and re fill it. It is also one gas supply which current runs parallel to the gas boxes at a distance of 1 metre away. The new position of the gas boxes would be no further away from the main gas pipe but would be closer to the front road boundary line. This is what makes this job so easy. SGN have said that the quote supplied:

..." falls within the criteria of our standard charging policy for an alteration of gas services" SGN.

I guess it depends on what side of the fence you are. For me I need to hire a qualified tradesperson for 3 hours, I am not buying anything other than a service. No different to hiring a plumber for 3 hours. SGN response is:


"I can explain that a quotation will not simply cover the time on site, it will reflect the cost of labour, materials, administration and any other expenses required to carry out the work. This includes contract rates and overhead costs related to the management of our contractors" SGN (this sounds like a bad sales pitch. fine I understand overheads but object to offensive mark ups)

I'm still convinced this is a case for the competition commission. The 4 main network suppliers are able to keep relatively simple but qualified trade labour work, at artificially and unreasonably high costs. These tradesmen are not earning £150k a year so the rest is profiteering. There is no one else that is willing or licensed to work on this network. Example National Grid and British gas although qualified gas transporters are not licensed to work on SGN network. The list of ofgem gas transporters or the Lloyds list of gas transporters, only deal with commercial jobs they won’t touch residential. That leaves me with a gas safe engineer who will work on residential properties but who isn't qualified for the gas transporter side of things. SGN have me "Over a Barrel" I would say

I found one Gas transporter company who showed interest, but then they phoned back and did a quick u turn and said I would have to ask SGN to instruct them to undertake the work they couldn't accept it privately (this was after I was told they did undertake private work).

I am hearing dozens of meter moving horror quote.

Anyway Good news SGN on the 3 time of asking have revised their quote down to £1,213 (as long as I dig the hole). Or £1000 if I do everything myself???????? I'm sure I must have miss read that bit surely they can't charge me to move it myself. Anyway.

I said as long as they tell me where and how deep this trench needs to be I'm happy. But still £1213 ridiculous. But better than £2k plus though.

What a run around!!!

C_Mababejive

Is the existing gas service which needs altering made of metal or plastic?

lemontart

One minor point British Gas are not a gas transporter they are a gas supplier.

chucky1972

Apologies, British gas forwarded me onto National grid. It's National Grid who are the transporter. That's who I meant. Regarding the pipes, The SGN surveyor said the pipes were plastic. But the meter is metal. White box is plastic.