Smart Meter Engineer switched off my gas

Kaybea2024

A couple of weeks ago Octopus Energy organised for a smart meter to be installed into my flat for electricity and gas. They couldn't install the electricity meter but they could install the gas meter. They then proceeded to check my gas combi boiler and gas hob. They said that as my gas hob does not have a safety valve they would have to switch off my gas which left me without any heating or hot water on a Friday afternoon. My gas hob was installed in 2006 when I moved into the property and according to the regulations, hobs post 2008 need the safety valve. I was amazed that a utilities company could do this and there was no forewarning on their website stating this is a possibility that if you have appliances pre 2008 I had to then find an emergency gas engineer to re-connect my gas which cost a small fortune plus the inconvenience of taking time off work to get the whole thing sorted. I have asked Octopus to reimburse me and they refuse. I have also said they should clearly explain on their website, or when customers agree to a meter installation, that older hobs may cause an issue for the engineer.

In the meantime, I have a gas meter which I cannot reach to read the first meter reading and so Octopus will now have to send someone out to read the meter. Ha! 

Are Octopus right?

tim_p

Based on my experience Octopus are correct. When I had an electric smart meter installed the installer took photos of everything, meter cupboard before and after install and consumer unit. We spoke about the gas and he reeled off a whole list of things they would check (anything gas basically - checking for flame colour as well as any pressure drops, flue location etc) saying that any failure would result in a ‘do not use’ sticker on the affected appliance.  I decided at that point that the best time to get a smart gas meter installed was during the summer!

Peter999_2

Yeah, safety has to come first I'm afraid.  Octopus has done nothing wrong.

When I had my smart meters installed the engineer condemned my gas hob as there was something wrong with one of the rings.   He put a little sticker on it just saying it mustn't be used but didn't disconnect the meteer.  When he left I just removed the sticker and never used that ring (I never used it anyway).    

jefaz07

Kaybea2024 said:

A couple of weeks ago Octopus Energy organised for a smart meter to be installed into my flat for electricity and gas. They couldn't install the electricity meter but they could install the gas meter. They then proceeded to check my gas combi boiler and gas hob. They said that as my gas hob does not have a safety valve they would have to switch off my gas which left me without any heating or hot water on a Friday afternoon. My gas hob was installed in 2006 when I moved into the property and according to the regulations, hobs post 2008 need the safety valve. I was amazed that a utilities company could do this and there was no forewarning on their website stating this is a possibility that if you have appliances pre 2008 I had to then find an emergency gas engineer to re-connect my gas which cost a small fortune plus the inconvenience of taking time off work to get the whole thing sorted. I have asked Octopus to reimburse me and they refuse. I have also said they should clearly explain on their website, or when customers agree to a meter installation, that older hobs may cause an issue for the engineer.

In the meantime, I have a gas meter which I cannot reach to read the first meter reading and so Octopus will now have to send someone out to read the meter. Ha! 

Are Octopus right?

No they are not right. Was it a hob isolation or a flame supervision device on the hob rings. Either way none of these constitute an ID situation. I’d like to know how they have come to this conclusion using IGEM G/11 which is the gas industry unsafe situation procedure. I’d be asking which part required your gas to be disconnected. I find it baffling. 

jefaz07

Peter999_2 said:

Yeah, safety has to come first I'm afraid.  Octopus has done nothing wrong.

When I had my smart meters installed the engineer condemned my gas hob as there was something wrong with one of the rings.   He put a little sticker on it just saying it mustn't be used but didn't disconnect the meteer.  When he left I just removed the sticker and never used that ring (I never used it anyway).    

What is unsafe about the OP’s hob? It is neither at risk or immediately dangerous. 

FreeBear

When I had a new gas meter installed last year, the engineer couldn't test my boiler due to (in part) access. So he capped the supply and left. Fortunately, it was spring time, so not cold, and I had been planning a boiler replacement anyway. So all told, just a minor inconvenience.

So yes, if the engineer believes there is a risk, he/she can cap the gas supply.

tim_p

jefaz07 said:

Peter999_2 said:

Yeah, safety has to come first I'm afraid.  Octopus has done nothing wrong.

When I had my smart meters installed the engineer condemned my gas hob as there was something wrong with one of the rings.   He put a little sticker on it just saying it mustn't be used but didn't disconnect the meteer.  When he left I just removed the sticker and never used that ring (I never used it anyway).    

What is unsafe about the OP’s hob? It is neither at risk or immediately dangerous. 

If you see it from the smart meter installers pov then all they’ve done is cover their backs. Had something gone wrong then the customer would probably be straight onto Octopus trying to blame them and demanding compensation for something that they might not have noticed but the SM installer did. In todays compensation culture I can’t blame the SM installer / company policy. 

Bark01

one of the directors of the energy supplier i used to work for had a smart meter fitted 3 days before christmas and the engineer had to disable and condemn his cooker leaving his family without their main oven over christmas. When this happens my supplier did loan a basic plug in ovens (like a toaster oven) or plug in radiators if the heating had to be condemned. not sure if this is a requirement though.

jefaz07

tim_p said:

jefaz07 said:

Peter999_2 said:

Yeah, safety has to come first I'm afraid.  Octopus has done nothing wrong.

When I had my smart meters installed the engineer condemned my gas hob as there was something wrong with one of the rings.   He put a little sticker on it just saying it mustn't be used but didn't disconnect the meteer.  When he left I just removed the sticker and never used that ring (I never used it anyway).    

What is unsafe about the OP’s hob? It is neither at risk or immediately dangerous. 

If you see it from the smart meter installers pov then all they’ve done is cover their backs. Had something gone wrong then the customer would probably be straight onto Octopus trying to blame them and demanding compensation for something that they might not have noticed but the SM installer did. In today’s compensation culture I can’t blame the SM installer / company policy. 

I am seeing it from their POV and I don’t agree. You’d be marked down as incorrect in a gas exam if you gave that answer. There is literally guidance on unsafe situations….and this isn’t one of them. You only disconnect a gas supply if the installation is classified as immediately dangerous. And I won’t have the ‘covering your back’ argument. Am I to turn off the gas to every house I enter to cover my own back? If all engineers did that we’d have a problem. 

The default if you haven’t got enough knowledge isn’t to isolate someone’s gas supply. There is nothing wrong with the issue the OP has. 

If you’re too scared to say it’s okay you either need more training or a different job. 

jefaz07

FreeBear said:

When I had a new gas meter installed last year, the engineer couldn't test my boiler due to (in part) access. So he capped the supply and left. Fortunately, it was spring time, so not cold, and I had been planning a boiler replacement anyway. So all told, just a minor inconvenience.

So yes, if the engineer believes there is a risk, he/she can cap the gas supply.

That’s just it. Where is the risk here? There are procedures written in how to classify situations. And this is never in a million years ID

Phones4Chris

@Kaybea2024 Judging by the responses from Gas Safe Engineers here, Octopus were not right.; I would get back to them if you've not had a satisfactory outcome and tell them if you don't get one you'll raise a formal complaint.