Trace Gas Main

Flower_Girl56

trying to locate gas supply under my garden is proving difficult.

Cleared some land and left old tree stumps behind, local landscaper requires a small digger to remove them..... only the gas meter isnt very far away, and the easiest and unsafest way to locate the main across my garden it is to stick a digger bucket in it !

So I sign up to linesearchbeforeudig and higlight my plot to get a map with the details of where the services come in (simples according to thier call centre).

Map download arrives and it duly shows where the main enters my cul de sac and it shows branches to three of the only six houses in the cul de sac. Guess what....no connection to mine is shown, and all properties built at same time in early 60's

I contact them again " adopt safe digging practice" is their answer. Effectively trace it back yourself across the garden to the pavement, your contractor will have the necessary equipment to trace it.
Only my little local contractor doesnt. I question why should i pay to hire someone with the kit or hire just the kit and hope my local contractor can work out how to use it ?

Surely this cannot be right, this is mains gas, im trying to be safe and avoid damage and cost and I have to trace it myself. ?
Comments welcome

I contact the waterboard to ask the same, and they agreed a time for site visit , traced their pipes free of charge. marked it all for me. Job done.

Chino

Flower_Girl56 wrote: »

I contact the waterboard to ask the same, and they agreed a time for site visit , traced their pipes free of charge. marked it all for me.

So have you tried to contact the gas network operator for your area to see if it can help?
This link has a map of which areas they each cover:
https://www.sgn.co.uk/About-SGN/Where-we-operate/

https://www.sgn.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Marketing/Pages/Publications/Docs-Safety/SGN-Know-Whats-Below-160519.pdf
https://cadentgas.com/getattachment/digging-safely/Promo-work-safely-library/Dial-before-you-dig-at-a-glance.pdf

Flower_Girl56

thank you Chino, I did indeed contact SGN as they are the operator in the south west, it was they who asked me to create an account and sign up to their website that the downloaded map came from.
The call handler claimed they didn't need to make site visits as everything is shown on their downloadable maps. "Everything" was shown for three out of six of the properties in the cul de sac, just nothing for my property, hence why I returned to them as the map solution they offered didn't work for my property. Their second solution was to trace it myself using safe digging practices.
If the water board can and did make a site visit, I find it incredulous that the Gas board wont especially when their own mapping system they are pushing fails the small residential customer.

I read all their downloads, and their website, & spoke to them twice before reaching out to this forum, just in case I have missed anything else, short of a complaint in writing.

EachPenny

Flower_Girl56 wrote: »

I read all their downloads, and their website, & spoke to them twice before reaching out to this forum, just in case I have missed anything else, short of a complaint in writing.

I'm really surprised they won't send someone to help you trace the pipe. It is normally a high priority to help people avoid hitting utility plant.

Have you tried emailing them rather than phoning? There is an address for plantlocation@sgn.co.uk quoted on both of these pages:-
https://www.sgn.co.uk/Safety/Dig-safely/
https://www.sgn.co.uk/Safety/Dig-Safely-2017-Householders/

Both talk about building works, rather than excavation generally, so you might need to be slightly 'creative' when you contact them and suggest your pressing need now is to locate the pipe as part of assessing the feasibility of the new house extension you are thinking of building.