Gas safety question

PoGee

I have a rental that is managed by a letting agent. Around 16 years ago, the gas fire (fitted 1989) was removed and the gas pipe capped off. It was capped off just to the side of the fireplace.

The letting agent has over the years instructed his gas engineers to cap it off as close to the mains as possible, after my prompts, but he always says his guys can't find the location from where the pipe originates. It's an old tenement and 2 bedrooms. In theory one pipe goes to the boiler  (kitchen, back of flat) and the other to the lounge (front of property) - so not sure why they can't find the pipe.

If it stays where it is, is it safe to keep it in the lounge above the floorboards? If it should be put under floorboards, would this not be difficult for future gas safety checks?

Any advice from gas engineers would be appreciated.

grumpy_codger

I am not an engineer but I don't see any danger if it is exposed. It's just common senses. How is this different from the past when the fire was connected to the pipe in exactly the same place?

PoGee

This is a check out picture from a few years back. The supply pipe is to the right of the fireplace. There's an electric fire there now. The old gas fire had a connecting pipe attached, which connected to the pipe in the picture. That's where it's capped off.

ButterCheese

I am not sure if this is a double post so excuse me if it is. We had the same issue in our lounge, gas engineer capped it off above floor height.  He said it's safe and legal but just not best practice.  The laternative for us would have been to rip up the entire kitchen floor and floorboards which we didn't want to do.  The only safety issue is if someone jams a table leg or something into the exposed pipes, it could rupture the pipe or the cap thus causing a leak.  Ours is in the corner so not much of a concern for us.  A way around it for you would be to box it in using OSB or MDF, it would be quite strong being so small.  Then paint it.  If you wanted it perfect then you could stick carpet or some other decoration to it to make it blend in

PoGee

Thanks. That's a good solution. I'll get a joiner in to make the box. 

sgthammer

Before boxing it in, consider that the upside of having the capped pipe visible is that anyone moving in in the future will know it's there, which itself could avoid a nasty accident during remodelling, say. Maybe the box should have a lid or an access panel of some kind.

PoGee

sgthammer said:

Before boxing it in, consider that the upside of having the capped pipe visible is that anyone moving in in the future will know it's there, which itself could avoid a nasty accident during remodelling, say. Maybe the box should have a lid or an access panel of some kind.

I might get a cage instead and put that over it, securing it to the skirting.