Gas saftey valve

sbz93

Hi,

I am currently renting a house and have noticed that the gas cut off valve is located behind the gas meter in a hole drilled out into the wall which is also at the back of one of my kitchen cupboards (the cupboard is quite deep as it goes off to the side), the meter is at the very bottom of the cupboard as well so getting to it when the cupboard has stuff in it makes it even harder as at the moment to get to it i practically have to get in the cupboard..

From my understanding the cut off has to be easily reachable in case of an emergency however i struggle to be able to get into a position to reach the meter let alone get my hand down the back of the meter to get to the lever.

Am i right in this is a issue that needs to be sorted and if so who do i contact the gas board or my landlord?

Thanks,

footyguy

sbz93 wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently renting a house and have noticed that the gas cut off valve is located behind the gas meter in a hole drilled out into the wall which is also at the back of one of my kitchen cupboards (the cupboard is quite deep as it goes off to the side), the meter is at the very bottom of the cupboard as well so getting to it when the cupboard has stuff in it makes it even harder as at the moment to get to it i practically have to get in the cupboard..

From my understanding the cut off has to be easily reachable in case of an emergency however i struggle to be able to get into a position to reach the meter let alone get my hand down the back of the meter to get to the lever.

Am i right in this is a issue that needs to be sorted and if so who do i contact the gas board or my landlord?

Thanks,

Without a photo of the situatiuon, I am struggling to fully understand the issue.

The isolation valve is normally positioned on the incoming pipe, just before the flexible hose, the regulator and then the meter as here:



Anything after the meter is the responsibilty of the property owner - in your case the landlord.

Perhaps it's possible that another, more accessible isolation valve can be fitted after the meter as in this example (which uses a commercial gas meter)


Or maybe it simply needs the kitchen cupboard removed to improve access for you? Either was, it sounds like you need to contact your landlord.

System

sbz93 wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently renting a house and have noticed that the gas cut off valve is located behind the gas meter in a hole drilled out into the wall which is also at the back of one of my kitchen cupboards (the cupboard is quite deep as it goes off to the side), the meter is at the very bottom of the cupboard as well so getting to it when the cupboard has stuff in it makes it even harder as at the moment to get to it i practically have to get in the cupboard..

From my understanding the cut off has to be easily reachable in case of an emergency however i struggle to be able to get into a position to reach the meter let alone get my hand down the back of the meter to get to the lever.

Am i right in this is a issue that needs to be sorted and if so who do i contact the gas board or my landlord?

Thanks,

Welcome to the forum. Your Landlord is your first port of call. If it is an issue - and it may not be - then any cost would fall to the Landlord to put right. PS there is no longer a Gas Board.

If your Landlord proves difficult then ask the simple question 'how is the supplier going to be able to install a smart meter'?

sbz93

Hi thanks for your quick reply. I will contact the landlord and see what they say..

Unfortunately I cant attach pictures to this thread at the moment as I am a new user

bettyboo71

If you don't have any joy with your landlord, you could try contacting your supplier and asking them. They might send someone out to look at it, and you can ask for the meter to be moved (although you'd need landlord's permission), and you'd very likely be charged for a visit/moving the meter.
I'm not sure how much of an issue this really is. If a gas engineer needs to shut it off to do work, they'd be doing it. And if there is a gas leak, they generally advise you to vacate the property immediately (although they might ask you to turn it off - but if you say you can't, this might just mean that they turn up sooner!)

Owain_Moneysaver

Has your landlord given you a copy of the current Gas Safety Certificate?

He is required to by law.

If he hasn't got a current cert then there may be other problems with the gas installation. If there is a current cert then the registered gas installer has certified the installation as safe.

C_Mababejive

Maybe it was once accesible but the home owner allowed someone to fit kitchen cupboards around it thus now making access poor?

MeterMan

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Maybe it was once accesible but the home owner allowed someone to fit kitchen cupboards around it thus now making access poor?

This is the answer you will get from the gas transporter.

MattMoneySavingExpert

The situation would be classed as 'At Risk' or 'Immediately Dangerous' if there's a leak in the system. Like others have said, contact your landlord. Also I think National grid would possibly have the ECV, pipework and meter moved if you contact them.