separation of pipework and gas meters from electrical services.

AliceW

Today I had gas and electricty smart meters fitted in the meter cupboard inside the house near the front door. . After the engineer had left I noticed a warning label (red trangle with big black exclamation mark inside it) on one of the pipes and this on the reverse of the label:

Customer advisory notice

The gas installation and pipework in your premises is not fitted to the current standards as quoted in British Standards BS 6891: 2015 separation of pipework and gas meters from electrical services at least 150mm from electricity supply equipment such as metering equipment, main service cut-offs or supplier (main) isolation switches , distribution boards or consumer units. At least 25mm away from electrical switches, sockets  and electrical supply and distribution cables.

If you are a tenant please bring this to the attention of the property owner.

I'm not a tennant, but don't have a clue what to do now. Could someone please give me some advice on who to contact to fix the problem?

Netexporter

If the offending wiring is before the meter then it is the DNOs problem. If it is after the meter then it is your responsibility.

debitcardmayhem

That’s a worry for me that means my meter should be on the other side of the river, or in the next street.
150 meters !!

badmemory

Then move the gas meter away & then whoops find it won't make contact so the smart meter is no longer smart.

FreeBear

debitcardmayhem said:

That’s a worry for me that means my meter should be on the other side of the river, or in the next street.
150 meters !!

It is metres (a unit of distance). A meter is a device to do the measuring.

I suspect the OP meant 150mm - As the notice says, the installation is not to current standards. It may well have been when it was originally installed. As you are the property owner, and it has been brought to your attention, just put it on the back burner for the day you get your electrics replaced/upgraded.

Once you have rectified the issue, standards will no doubt change again and render the installation non-compliant.

wrf12345

You were possibly lucky with the installer, some might have refused to do it. Many modern standards only exist to justify the body's existence so I would not worry about it and get rid of the warning sticker.

AliceW

debitcardmayhem said:

That’s a worry for me that means my meter should be on the other side of the river, or in the next street.
150 meters !!

LOL!. I should have typed 150mm. edited to correct

Rodders53

Post a pic of the meter and surrounding electrical cabling.... 

Someone with knowledge can then comment on whether it could be necessary or just ideal to rectify.

Just cos standards have changed does not mean something needs upgraded.

AliceW

Rodders53 said:

Post a pic of the meter and surrounding electrical cabling.... 

Someone with knowledge can then comment on whether it could be necessary or just ideal to rectify.

Just cos standards have changed does not mean something needs upgraded.

These are my new smart meters in a cupboard just inside the front door

Ectophile

The smart meter itself looks like it's fine.  It's the main gas supply valve that's been plonked right in front of the main supply fuse that's the problem.

Is it even possible to remove the fuse in an emergency?

doodling

Hi,

It looks like the gas installation obstructs access to the DNOs equipment.

Whilst probably still not standards compliant, the best thing would have been for the person installing the gas meter to remove the 90 degree bend immediately after the pipe enters the box so the the gas pipe runs below the electrical supply head rather than in front of it.

The only wrinkle is that pipe sticking up out of the floor below the gas pipe - is that a previous gas supply to the property or is that historical internal pipework?  Either way that might obstruct what I suggest - if it is yours then removing (or reducing its height) would be good, assuming it is no longer connected, if it an old gas supply then you may need advice from your local gas transporter as to whether it could still be live.

I would be contacting whoever was responsible for the gas meter installation and telling them that they have done a very low quality job and please can they come and fix it  it I'd try and deal with that pipe coning up out of the floor first if I could though.

I might also be talking to the DNO to see whether they are happy for access to their fuse to be obstructed like that but I'd save that until I really needed it.