Safe removal of old, disconnected gas pipes

freeganneist

I've recently bought a house where the mains gas was disconnected around ten years ago. There's no gas meter but there are still some old gas pipes leading from where the meter used to be, which are capped off. One pipe is exactly where I want to have a new consumer unit fitted. Is it safe to remove the pipe myself (maybe saw it off?) or to ask the electrician if they can do it? Or is there a danger of residual gas inside, in which case should I ask a gas expert to do it? It seems like such a small job, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Aylesbury_Duck

What is the pipe in question? The one that used to go into the meter, or the one that is after the meter and to the house?

FreeBear

freeganneist wrote: »

There's no gas meter but there are still some old gas pipes leading from where the meter used to be, which are capped off. One pipe is exactly where I want to have a new consumer unit fitted. Is it safe to remove the pipe myself (maybe saw it off?) or to ask the electrician if they can do it? Or is there a danger of residual gas inside, in which case should I ask a gas expert to do it?

If this is the pipe connected to the gas main outside, you can NOT touch it - Neither can an electrician or "gas expert". The pipe will be owned by your local gas distribution company (Gas Board for those old enough to remember public ownership). Unless the pipe is leaking gas, they may well want to charge for removal.

I had a very old iron pipe under the kitchen floor - Could detect a faint whiff of gas so the gas board came out and disconnected the pipe from the main. The work was done within an hour or so of the report being logged, and it was free of charge.

freeganneist

The pipe in question is capped on the floor above where a gas fire used to be, and runs down to join a bigger gas pipe that used to be connected to the gas meter (when there was one). So basically there's a pipe that used to be connected to the meter but now there's no meter so it's capped at the meter end. The pipe then splits 3 ways; one end to the boiler (no longer working), one to where the gas cooker used to be and one to where a gas fire used to be. It's the one that used to be connected to the gas fire that I want to remove. It's capped at the gas fire end and at the meter end, and also at the cooker end. I don't know if the boiler end is capped or whether it's still connected to it, but the boiler hasn't been used for probably about ten years.

FreeBear

So it is the pipe on your side of the meter (as was) - In which case, there shouldn't be any significant gas in the pipe, and should be safe to remove.