Earth bonding(gas)

PetayPan10

Ok so I am going through the process of buying a house, went to see the solicitor today and she said "Do you know any plumbers who could take a look at this, it's not going to end the sale but you might want it looked at and priced"
And showed me a piece of paper from the surveyor report which read, "No earth bonding at gas meter" also noted "not to current standards"
Could anyone tell me if this is going to be a problem, or a price to fix it?

RedFraggle

What it costs to fix will depend on labour charges and that will depend on how easy it is to cross bond the gas to the earth on the consumer unit. It shouldn't cost the earth ;-)
If the cross bonding isn't adequate you might want to get the electrics checked in full as a rewire would be a much more expensive job.

jjlandlord

Essentially it needs an earthing cable between your consumer unit or main switch and the the gas meter.

Depending on the relative positions it could be a very easy job.

If you have that done, you could also check that there is an earth bonding at the mains water tap, which there should be as well. If not, then same procedure as for gas meter applies.

I had both jobs done when I bought my last house 2 years ago. Bonding the water mains required going all around the house on the external wall.
It cost me £200, which I think was not that low, IMHO, considering that it was a rather simple job for the electrician. However I have no other quotes for comparison.

Gloomendoom

jjlandlord wrote: »

It cost me £200, which I think was not that low, IMHO, considering that it was a rather simple job for the electrician.

The 10mm cable required isn't cheap. The last reel I bought cost £45.

This issue was covered on the diy board not so long ago. IIRC a couple of electricians responded saying that, although the bonding was required for new installations, it was was pointless.

dimbo61

"not to current standards"
Your new property will not have electrics to Current standards!
Your new property will not have insulation to current standards!
The list goes on and standards change every year.
Houses still standing that our 4/5/6 hundred years old.
IS IT SAFE? that is the question

xylophone

http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/advice/unsafe_situations/warning_labels.aspx

"‘Not to Current Standards’ (NCS)
Over time, industry standards may change and, as a result, existing installations may not always meet the current safety requirements. A “not to current standards” installation is one which does not meet with current standards, but is safe. You may however wish to improve the installation to meet current standards as this could improve the reliability and lifespan of the installation. If the installation has been carried out recently, you should contact the registered gas business that carried out the work to correct any identified faults. For older installations your gas engineer can advise you whether the installation should be brought in line with current standards.

It is always a good idea to bring an installation up to current standards, but that will often depend upon whether the work can be undertaken at reasonable cost, or whether any other work is likely to be carried out on the installation in the near future, such as a replacement appliance.

G_M

My house is 150 years old.

In those days they built on pretty shallow foundations - far more shallow than 'current standards'.

so the foundations of my house, like the bonding on your boiler, is "not to current standards"

Am I going to knock the house down, re-dig the foundations to current standards, and then rebuild the house?

what do you think?

Oh, and does the law require me to? No.

julie777

So basically, if the Gas Safety Record reports
"Is the Protective Equipotential bonding satisfactory? FAIL"
is that anything to worry about?

G_M

julie777 wrote: »

So basically, if the Gas Safety Record reports
"Is the Protective Equipotential bonding satisfactory? FAIL"
is that anything to worry about?

This thread is a year and a half old.

Start your own thread and provide full details. You buyer or seller?