Gas meter location

DrNado

Hi all,

We're currently house-hunting and have seen a candidate home. It's got an extension that originally was a garage, then got turned into a bedroom, and then reverted to garage for reasons we ignore.

This garage/room actually has the gas meter in it, hence the meter is not accessible from the outside. Our questions are:
1. Is having a gas meter in a garage/workshop against building regulations?
2. Is having a gas meter in a bedroom against health & safety or building regulations?
3. Would this cause us trouble with the gas company? Would we have to move the meter outside where it can be accessed?

Thank you very much in advance

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Many houses don't have the gas meter outside. You can (presumably) read the meter yourself, and submit readings to the supplier. They are obliged to inspect the meter once every two years (although some don't); if you don't grant access for this a warrant can be obtained.

You can have it moved, at a cost. This can vary quite a lot depending on length of pipe required etc. but around £1k is a starting point.

laughingcow81

I don't think there's any issue with having the gas meter in a bedroom - when I was at uni in a shared house, one of the bedrooms that was formerly a garage had both meters in it. It was even a "pay on key" type jobby which caused issues when it came to running out of money in the middle of the day and having to go into my friend's room to get it.

As Bluebirdman says - most houses don't have the gas meter outside anyway.

jbainbridge

I would agree, gas meters can be inside or outside. I guess the benefit of being outside is that it can be read without disturbing you - but I wouldn't say there is any reason to move it.

Guest101

DrNado wrote: »

Hi all,

We're currently house-hunting and have seen a candidate home. It's got an extension that originally was a garage, then got turned into a bedroom, and then reverted to garage for reasons we ignore.

This garage/room actually has the gas meter in it, hence the meter is not accessible from the outside. Our questions are:
1. Is having a gas meter in a garage/workshop against building regulations? No
2. Is having a gas meter in a bedroom against health & safety or building regulations? Possibly
3. Would this cause us trouble with the gas company? Would we have to move the meter outside where it can be accessed? No

Thank you very much in advance

If you wanted it as an official bedroom, I think it would be against health and safety standards.

But as a spare room that had a sofa bed in it? you should be fine.

Alter_ego

Guest101 wrote: »

If you wanted it as an official bedroom, I think it would be against health and safety standards.

But as a spare room that had a sofa bed in it? you should be fine.

How do you define "Official bedroom"?

Guest101

Alter_ego wrote: »

How do you define "Official bedroom"?

Where an extension or a conversion has been done to the required building regulations.

A common example is loft conversions, which are clearly used as a bedroom, but only qualify as a loft conversion.

So often you will see houses marketed as 2 bedroom, even thought the loft is used as the 3rd bedroom.

The point only really comes into it when the property changes hands.

SwanJon

I don't think the issue is so much with the meter as the pipe leading to it.
If the pipe that is now 'inside' is plastic it will need to be moved (although all this should have been cleared when the extension was built).

It's a bit of a gamble as National Grid may choose to move the meter at your cost if they establish that it is dangerous, but they are probably the only people who can tell you it is safe.

davidmcn

Guest101 wrote: »

If you wanted it as an official bedroom, I think it would be against health and safety standards.

Which regulations cause a problem? You can have gas appliances in bedrooms, I don't see why having the meter there as well is any more risky?

Guest101

davidmcn wrote: »

Which regulations cause a problem? You can have gas appliances in bedrooms, I don't see why having the meter there as well is any more risky?

In which case i stand corrected. I remember, though vaguely, a boiler which needed to be moved when a LL was converting a 2nd sitting room into a bedroom - suppose this could have been for convenience though.

Annie1960

I have never lived in a house with a gas meter outside. It's always been under the stairs, except in my current house where it's in a kitchen cupboard.