That's what I want to avoid and hopefully they will replace the pipe free of charge because it's so shallow.
But if they do try it on I will most definitely use your letter as a basis for my own.
they told me that the ground levels above the pipe could have altered after their installation, and that I should have got a diagram of the layout of the services before commencing
work, and they also said they operate a "dial before you dig"
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the first question I always ask the homeowner is where do the service enter the house, gas, electric, water, telephone if they are still with BT and cable TV
Water is normally deep anyway and cable TV is obvious (but always shallow) as there is the box on the outside wall and you can trace it back to the pavement but the rest we always hand dig at the house side and the pavement side to see if they are all deeper than 250mm before commencing using the digger
I have only ever damaged one cable on a domestic driveway due to following this method, and the only reason the cable got damaged is it was 75mm deep as it came into the house.
We had removed the existing tarmac base coat and topping and the cable was just under the base coat but covered with the dirt, I phoned united utilities and there was no charge due to the depth of the electric cable being too shallow
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msh paving wrote:british gas -national grid or what ever they call themselves now,state in there code of practice gas service should be between 375-450mm below ground leval, i have had 1
court claim on this infomation and 2 others gave up b4 court
MSH
The depths quoted are only advisory and not regulation... 40mm is permitted under paving slabs..... whenever british gas get pulled up for their installations being outside their own adviseory guidelines thats what they tell me! ps, I'm Gassafe
general builder, maintenance engineer, gas and plumbing installations, extensions etc
We hit a plastic gas pipe at 100mm and they tried to charge around £250 for repair.
The guidelines say 375mm- they can lay shallower, but only if certain conditions are met. Here is my SUCCESSFUL appeal letter. Its a bit long, but has everything you need!! Enjoy it (i did
Glynis,
I am disputing the invoice (RIP0001) on the grounds that the pipe was improperly installed in a manner which left is unreasonably predisposed to accidental damage.
I am aware there is no legal absolute minimum depth to bury gas pipe, but guidelines clearly state a minimum of 375mm depth on residential property. The guidelines are also very clear that where this is not possible, the pipe should be protected and certainly should be marked with warning tape.
The gas line was buried just 100mm below the surface for a distance of around 15 meters. At no point was the pipe protected (eg. concrete plinth or sleeved duct) and no warning tape was present.
According to the guidelines, proposals for shallow laid pipes (100mm is obviously shallow) should be validated by transco and should also be reported to the Utility Infrastructure Provider. I am sure Transco would not validate a proposal to run the pipe at 100mm on my property for no reason. If this is not the case, I would like to see the relevant paperwork that shows TRANSCO approval.
The flexibility in the depth guidelines exists for situations where 375mm cannot be achieved. On my property, there was nothing preventing the pipe being buried to the correct depth.
In summary, the initial installation was not in compliance with guidlines and was laid in a way that was almost certain to be damaged sooner or later. It would be unreasonable to expect the customer to pay for damage that would not have happened if the installation had been properly done.
Unless I see paperwork showing TRANSCO pre-approved the 100mm depth, I cannot volunteer payment.
For easy reference, I have included a attached a pdf of the guidlines (from your company).
The relevent paragraph section 3.7 on page 4 is shown below.
"3.7 Shallow Depth Services
The service pipe should normally be laid at a minimum depth of 375mm in private ground and 450mm in
public highway. Should a situation where the service pipe is not at the required depth or proposed to be laid
shallower1, then consideration should be given to either additional protection2 or replacement to minimise 3rd
party damage.
Notes:
1 Proposals for shallow depth services will need to be validated by Transco and recorded by UIP on completion of the work.
2Examples of additional protection against interference would include the provision of a sleeved duct, concrete plinth, steel
plate with a suitable caution / warning tape applied."
Thanks in advance for your time.
great letter.. wish i had kept copy of mine which worked equally well...if the gas board cant install properly, why should some unsuspecting individual pay for damaging a pipe which technically should be buried in a safe manner.After three separate incidents and being threatened with court action by transco after reporting their damaged pipes following a garage build(concrete wagon exposed pipe in drive and caused split),I'd even exposed their run of pipe for them and tape repaired the leak to reduce risk on site until they could arrive to repair it... only took 10 minutes to repair and they tried to hit me for £375 as the 'responsible person ' on site...We dug a proper trench and buried the pipe at the guided depth and plated over as the drive was in constant use. They backed down after my insisting that if they had buried the pipework at the correct guideline depth in the first place, the pipe wouldnt have been damaged in the first place, and by burying it at such a shallow depth, they were actually ensuring an accident would happen and so were themselves culpable...they didnt like that
general builder, maintenance engineer, gas and plumbing installations, extensions etc
Well suprise surprise my gas pipe started to leak and Southern Gas Networks came round to fix it,
They dug down 900mm on the public footpath and pushed the new plastic pipe inside the old iron pipe then connected it at the gas meter.
We are on a hill, the overall depth of the pipe is fine except where it shallows up at the house. I wasn't happy about that so to cut a very long story short ( and I mean a very long story! ) I insisted a manager visited. He said that he will send a written letter confirming that the repair conforms to standards.
Just left with a cordoned off hole on the public footpath, someone else will come back in the near future to fill it in and reinstate the paving.
Spot on!
I got a written letter today from the manager who visited saying that although the new pipe is still shallow it comforms to regulations.
So that's the mysterious gas leak (cough) fixed and another problem solved,
Had similar job near me last month, but it was 6km in a village, chopped a hole in the road4x20 mtrs, then fed the new pipe (600mm dia, I think) right through the old un, great stuff, minimal faffing around.
rab1 wrote:is that denzo tape wrapped around the pipe?
Every joint on the pipework i'm laying has to be wrapped in denso, could be 10, 20, 30, 40, or more a day. As the drainage is suspended in reinforced cages and i'm mostly on my hands and knees, sitting, or sometimes laying down to get access. i get arms etc covered.
