gas leak apartment

allybhoy

Hi All,

Long story, apologies in advance, but could really do with some advice as i have a very cold baby and angry missus!

Bord Gais have detected a gas leak in our ground floor apartment, they carried out a pressure test and said it dropped 2Mb over 2minutes.After detecting the gas leak, they promptly cut us off and told us to contact an RGI supplier to fix the leak, recertify us, and then Bord Gais will come back out and turn our gas supply on.

So i went onto the RGI Site, found a guy on their website who was close enough to me. RGI guy came out, closed cut off valve that runs to all the gas points (Boiler \ Hob etc) and ran a pressure test and confirmed that there is indeed a leak somewhere on the line. He said its not possible to pinpoint where exactly the leak is (he didnt seem like he had the most advanced tools to be honest) charged me 100 quid and said that we would have to run a new line and to contact our insurance companies to see who was liable.. which leaves me in a pickle.

According to the RGI man, we would have to run a new line from outside, right through the apartment to the point in the kitchen, Which would mean digging up the floor (solid wood) for a run of 20 metres or so to bury the new line, and we would need a builder to do this. Obviously this is a nightmare scenario, I am in the process of dealing with the management company who manage the block and have building insurance against the block. As its an apartment, we only have contents insurance and its not covered under this either. The mgmt company are saying they arent liable so i have requested a copy of the policy and intend to go through it in detail.

I want to get a second opinion on the RGI man's diagnosis, to verify that it is absolutely necessary to dig up the floor before chasing the insurance companies as its going to be a nightmare. Is it possible to determine where exactly a gas pipe is leaking from? Isolate that location, dig up and patch accordingly? Or do I, as the RGI man is saying, have to lay a brand new pipe?

Also, has anyone on here ever done this kind of work before on an apartment? Has it been covered under block insurance?

Thanks in advance,

shane0007

A leak is a leak is a leak, I'm afraid & leaks don't get better, they get worse.

I was changing a boiler only yesterday & I needed to lower the gas pipe coming from the wall so broke into the wall only to find a compression fitting. That's against regs as if it leaked, it would never be found.
So in answer to your question, it is likely that if the leak is not in any obvious location above ground, you will have to re-pipe.
You could consider running the pipe surface at high level. You could even box it in.
Most RGI's should be able to do this competently. I am converting an apartment from electric heating to gas on Monday & all the heating & gas is going surface.

K.Flyer

This is where things get very difficult with leaks under floors in apartments.
The management are more than likely going to come back to you saying
"... the pipe is yours, you have been given a right of way for it to be run through the structure of the building, but the pipe remains your responsibility and repairs are at your expense ." or words to that effect.
You can it discuss it with the block insurance if the management are not being helpful and they might meet you halfway with it. (I have seen this happen)
Get a second opinion on pipe routeing and if its any consolation, at least your not on a higher floor.

wilser

Am i the only one thinking that the rgi didn't exactly cover himself in glory?
the householder knew there was a leak, rang a rgi who said yes there's a leak, that will be €100

shane0007

wilser wrote: »

Am i the only one thinking that the rgi didn't exactly cover himself in glory?
the householder knew there was a leak, rang a rgi who said yes there's a leak, that will be €100

So you do not think he went around & tested every accessible joint individually & performed his own tests to try & at least confirm that the leak is indeed inaccessible & that the only viable & economical option was to re-pipe?

Or do you think he should do that for free?

shane0007

OP, why was BGN called in the first instance? Did you smell gas?

Egass13

wilser wrote: »

Am i the only one thinking that the rgi didn't exactly cover himself in glory?
the householder knew there was a leak, rang a rgi who said yes there's a leak, that will be €100

He offered a solution aswell , I'm sure the callout fee would come off the price of the job at the end if he gets the go ahead , it would if it was me anyway. If he didn't charge an the OP got somebody else in to do the work , then he worked for free ?

wilser

Yeah ok maybe,
but bg told him there was a leak.
my reading of the op post was that the rgi was called to rectify/repair leak and recertify, he done neither & got €100.
how much would he have charged for fixing the leak?
anyway sorry fir going off topic
best of luck with the insurance/mgmt op

Egass13

wilser wrote: »

Yeah ok maybe,
but bg told him there was a leak.
my reading of the op post was that the rgi was called to rectify/repair leak and recertify, he done neither & got €100.
how much would he have charged for fixing the leak?
anyway sorry fir going off topic
best of luck with the insurance/mgmt op

BG only test and say you have a leak . The rgi has to retest as the leak could be accessible, eg. A faulty appliance or connection. Then depending what the problem is a price would be given. It's like asking how deep is a hole , there's no set amount

anthonyos

Im sure if he found the leak he would of charged you the same maybe I little more?... or maybe he found the leak and is just saying nothing so you will repipe and he earns more.... a second opinion will cost more money ....

shane0007

wilser wrote: »

Yeah ok maybe,
but bg told him there was a leak.
my reading of the op post was that the rgi was called to rectify/repair leak and recertify, he done neither & got €100.
how much would he have charged for fixing the leak?
anyway sorry fir going off topic
best of luck with the insurance/mgmt op

BGN's responsibility is upto & including the meter & public safety. Downstream of that is the responsibility of the homeowner. If they have report of a gas leak, their first priority is safety so they shut down the supply.
If the leak is on the consumer side, it is upto the homeowner to obtain the services of a RGI to investigate & rectify. This was advised by BGN & carried out by the HO.

shane0007

anthonyos wrote: »

or maybe he found the leak and is just saying nothing so you will repipe and he earns more.... a second opinion will cost more money ....

I don't think the country has got that bad.... well I hope not anyhow.

anthonyos

Ha ha it wouldnt suprise me..I wouldnt do something that I wouldnt like done to myself plus times are tough enough on ppl ..I would like to know if the pipe from the meter to to point it enters the apt has been isolated and tested.

allybhoy

anthonyos wrote: »

Ha ha it wouldnt suprise me..I wouldnt do something that I wouldnt like done to myself plus times are tough enough on ppl ..I would like to know if the pipe from the meter to to point it enters the apt has been isolated and tested.

Thanks for all the replies.

Bgn were called out because somebody in the block said they reported the smell of gas in The Block, apparently ours was thr one that was leaking..we cudnt smell a thing and neither could the BGN engineer however he said there was a drop on the line and that is why they disconnected us.

To be honest he was more helpful than the RGI guy.. he basically called out told us there was a drop on the line alright...didnt give any other suggestions apart from "its a big job. .you would have to dig up the floors" and that was it. I wasnt here when he called as I was in work and only spoke to him on the phone he gave me the impression that it was too big a job for him and never mentioned that we could route the new pipe over ground and box it in which sounds much better than having to take up the floor and kango the concrete. I wouldn't be using him to do the next job as he wasn't the most helpful or friendliest fella you ever met

I take it there no such test for tracing where the line is leaking and the only option would be to run a new line? Would you guys recomend getting a 2nd opinion just in case?

wilser

Could you try and isolate the gas pipe from the meter to your apartment to see if the leak is on this run? If it is this would probably be a management issue.
could you do the same between the boiler and hob to narrow down the amount of piping that has to be redone

allybhoy

Ok, so final update for anyone interested....

After going through the various insurance companies seemed like we werent going to get it covered under any insurance, we contacted a solicitor and an assessor who said get two quotes for the job and we would take it from there. We were dreading the worst, was looking like it was going to cost us thousands and all the while we had a freezing cold home. The first RGI guy wouldn't even quote for the work when we rang him back, so we went onto RGI site again and got another plumber to call out. He called this morning....was there for roughly 2 hours. He tested all the lines again, said there was a drop in the line but he didnt think it was coming from inside as there was no smell inside the apartment. The line goes straight down from the BG distribution point and then underneath the apartment, so he decided to dig up the ground as he thought that is where it was most likely to be leaking from as its exposed to the elements, He dug up the external gas line and resealed the exterior pipe (roughly 2 metres), ran the test again and said there was no drop in pressure whatsoever. Rang Bord Gais, they were happy with him to reconnect the gas as long as he certified it, which he did and now i have a warm apartment and a very happy baby and missus.

The guy this morning was worlds apart from the first guy, he was pleasant, chatty and professional. He was meant to call lastnight, at 8pm, rang us at 6pm to tell us that he was going to be late as he got caught up in a job due to the weather, but he'd be with us in the morning, fair enough. The missus thought she would have to take the day off work as he never specified a time, but he knocked on our door at 7:45am and was all sorted by half 9. We took his business card and will be using him for the likes of boiler servicing etc and will definitely recommend him to anyone we know.

In the end it probably cost us around 500 quid in total due to the first RGI guy and the solictors assessors etc, when all we really needed was a good tradesman who knew what he was at.

Froststop

allybhoy wrote: »

Hi All,

Long story, apologies in advance, but could really do with some advice as i have a very cold baby and angry missus!

Bord Gais have detected a gas leak in our ground floor apartment, they carried out a pressure test and said it dropped 2Mb over 2minutes.After detecting the gas leak, they promptly cut us off and told us to contact an RGI supplier to fix the leak, recertify us, and then Bord Gais will come back out and turn our gas supply on.

So i went onto the RGI Site, found a guy on their website who was close enough to me. RGI guy came out, closed cut off valve that runs to all the gas points (Boiler \ Hob etc) and ran a pressure test and confirmed that there is indeed a leak somewhere on the line. He said its not possible to pinpoint where exactly the leak is (he didnt seem like he had the most advanced tools to be honest) charged me 100 quid and said that we would have to run a new line and to contact our insurance companies to see who was liable.. which leaves me in a pickle.

According to the RGI man, we would have to run a new line from outside, right through the apartment to the point in the kitchen, Which would mean digging up the floor (solid wood) for a run of 20 metres or so to bury the new line, and we would need a builder to do this. Obviously this is a nightmare scenario, I am in the process of dealing with the management company who manage the block and have building insurance against the block. As its an apartment, we only have contents insurance and its not covered under this either. The mgmt company are saying they arent liable so i have requested a copy of the policy and intend to go through it in detail.

I want to get a second opinion on the RGI man's diagnosis, to verify that it is absolutely necessary to dig up the floor before chasing the insurance companies as its going to be a nightmare. Is it possible to determine where exactly a gas pipe is leaking from? Isolate that location, dig up and patch accordingly? Or do I, as the RGI man is saying, have to lay a brand new pipe?

Also, has anyone on here ever done this kind of work before on an apartment? Has it been covered under block insurance?

Thanks in advance,

In the event of this happening again, a leak trace specialist should be able to find that leak for you.

maksam

Hi allybhoy
how did you end up with gas leak issue? i have same issue just found out today, any suggestion?

maksam

allybhoy wrote: »

Ok, so final update for anyone interested....

After going through the various insurance companies seemed like we werent going to get it covered under any insurance, we contacted a solicitor and an assessor who said get two quotes for the job and we would take it from there. We were dreading the worst, was looking like it was going to cost us thousands and all the while we had a freezing cold home. The first RGI guy wouldn't even quote for the work when we rang him back, so we went onto RGI site again and got another plumber to call out. He called this morning....was there for roughly 2 hours. He tested all the lines again, said there was a drop in the line but he didnt think it was coming from inside as there was no smell inside the apartment. The line goes straight down from the BG distribution point and then underneath the apartment, so he decided to dig up the ground as he thought that is where it was most likely to be leaking from as its exposed to the elements, He dug up the external gas line and resealed the exterior pipe (roughly 2 metres), ran the test again and said there was no drop in pressure whatsoever. Rang Bord Gais, they were happy with him to reconnect the gas as long as he certified it, which he did and now i have a warm apartment and a very happy baby and missus.

The guy this morning was worlds apart from the first guy, he was pleasant, chatty and professional. He was meant to call lastnight, at 8pm, rang us at 6pm to tell us that he was going to be late as he got caught up in a job due to the weather, but he'd be with us in the morning, fair enough. The missus thought she would have to take the day off work as he never specified a time, but he knocked on our door at 7:45am and was all sorted by half 9. We took his business card and will be using him for the likes of boiler servicing etc and will definitely recommend him to anyone we know.

In the end it probably cost us around 500 quid in total due to the first RGI guy and the solictors assessors etc, when all we really needed was a good tradesman who knew what he was at.

Hey do you have contact details for that guys?