Advice needed regarding dangerous gas plumbing

[dackjaniels]

Hi all,
I'm new here and need some advice, apologies if this is not the correct forum.

I live in an ex-council house which I bough in 2004, prior to that I was renting it from the council since 1996.
Sometime around 1998 to 2000 the council (or a subcontractor) came in and replaced the coal C/H with gas C/H (Baxi Bermuda fire/back boiler). They replaced all pipework for gas and radiators. A group of 4 or 5 guys did it all in one day.

A few days ago a downstairs ceiling collapsed due to a C/H water pipe leak. Turns out the pipe had been installed under the upstairs floorboards, passing under a stud wall and up against a screw. Pipe was tight to the floorboard and over the years the movement has caused the screw to pierce the pipe.

In the same area a 22mm gas pipe was installed which has two 15mm water pipes installed tight against it (one above, one below, perpendicular). The top one of these water pipes was also tight against the floorboards above and movement over the years caused it to develop a small leak from it rubbing against the gas pipe below it. The adjacent area on the gas pipe is blackened but does not appear to have any significant damage.

I feel very lucky that the water pipes leaked alerting us to the problems. Had the gas pipe leaked, I fear the cavity between ceiling and floorboards for the entire house would have filled up and probably blown us all to hell.

There are at least three point where water pipes cross and touch the gas pipes and it is a great cause of concern, especially as there may be similar hidden hazards.

What should I do about this? I have no money to employ a gas fitter to check and refit the entire system. Should not the council be held responsible? Who should I speak to about this? I feel that they should pay for a complete check of the entire system and refit as necessary.

Any suggestion much appreciated (sorry for the long read)

Thanks,
Steve

 

[ecowarm]

I dont think you have any comeback on the council or contractors after all this time

 

[dackjaniels]

Hi ecowarm, thank for the reply.

The plumber that fixed the leak said the installation was clearly badly done. Do you mean that a gas installer can do a bad job and as long as its ten years before it comes to light (and possibly blows up and kills someone) then there is no recourse? I realise it's not the same thing but murderers can still be charged after decades of evading justice.

EDIT: It also concerns me that many other council houses in the area may have had the same work done at also be at risk.

 

[stevetheplumber]

id sue your building surveyor for failing to notice it obviously you did have a survey done?

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

have a word with gassafe but i think you will find they wont want to know,its a old install,it does not need to have all of the system ripped out just the gas brought up to current standards

 

[dackjaniels]

ok, thanks for the replies guys

 

[plumbster3456]

id sue your building surveyor for failing to notice it obviously you did have a survey done?

could you sue the building surveyour for this? how can he see through stairs? are they supposed to lift all the floors to check every little thing I would think he would not get very far going down this route as a building surveour would not tell some one to lift there hardwood flooring in there living room so they can inspect the gas pipe would they? or the stairs for that matter

 

[anz]

So you want the council to come back and replace your gas pipework because some of the pipework that was installed 10+ years ago comes into contact with other pipes and you think that there may be some other screws that you haven't seen that could damage the pipe?

Yes the pipework route might not be the best, but I don't think they are now required to do anything.

It sounds like the pipework still meets the relevant regulations/standards.

 

[Bartdude]

When you have your annual boiler service(vital with a back boiler)the pipework can be tested for leaks. Your situation is far from unusual,pipes are in contact with one another in most homes in the country. It's unfortunate that you had water damage though,but it happens. I've seen pipes pierced with nails before which have held water for years before leaking.

I doubt very much that anyone will be interested,you didn't pay for the work to be done originally,so I don't see that you can have any recourse. And it's been 10 years too .

Incidentally,natural gas is lighter than air,so rather than the cavity filling with gas and exploding,it would have risen and you would have smelt the leak and been alerted to it before it became a danger. Of course accidents do occur but mercifully they are pretty rare.

 

[Reg Man]

So sorry that you have this problem. Unfortunatley there is a 6 year statute of limitation on legal action from the time the work was completed to you finding the problem.

 

[REDSAW]

annual service will pick up any leak in the gas pipe if it occurs, which through a pin hole will be minimal.
thats why it is important for these checks regally.

 

[dackjaniels]

Thank you all very much for your replies. I can understand what you are saying so will find a way of getting the gas pipe checked and rerouted if necessary at my own cost.

Regards,
Steve