Shouldn't you turn off the gas?

[sarby]

Just thought I'd relate this experience.
I called out a Gas Safe plumber to source a leak in the pipework.
I was impressed when he came promptly in the evening and soon found the leak.
I was even more impressed when he set to work to fix it, instead of leaving it for the next day.
And his bill was very reasonable with no call-out or unsocial hours charge.
But as I watched him cut into a pipe to isolate an appliance, there was a loud hissing sound.
As I started to run, I heard him say: "I thought I'd turned it off" and "Don't smoke" as he dashed out to cut off the supply.

Any comments? :bomb:

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

tired hard working plumber under stress trying to help a custard who thinks plumbers have endless battery's

 

[Puddle]

it was a mistake,should not of happened,as said long day,trying to get you back on,you are turning gas on and off to check and recheck after isolating,tightening joints ect
Have I done the same,not very often but yes I have if I am honest

imho

 

[GrahamM]

We are all only human. Or most of us are.:thinking:
Mistakes happen. Main thing is all is well in the end.
The guy should not make that mistake again.

 

[stevetheplumber]

think weve all done this at some time wrong pipe or just a blonde moment ,doctors are lucky they usually bury their mistakes

 

[villa_tom]

Its and easy mistake to make. I cant remember the amount of times I have had to change a gas valve and forgot to isolate the boiler. Admittidley I have never cut into a gas main and not turned the gas off but I can see how he has done.

To be fair - you had a leak - he came right round - he fixed the leak - and charged you a fair price.

Most importantly he told you not to smoke and ventilate the area - the two things that are drummed into us at college from the start.

Fair play Mr Gasman I say.

I suppose he could have done the washing up though the idol sod :39:

 

[GrahamM]

it was a mistake,should not of happened,as said long day,trying to get you back on,you are turning gas on and off to check and recheck after isolating,tightening joints ect
Have I done the same,not very often but yes I have if I am honest

imho

Truth be told- I like puddle, am guilty of similar mistake.

 

[Blackcatgas]

youd need to have the gas on for a while longer than 30 seconds to cause an explosion.
simple mistake.

 

[tamz]

Done worse than that.......but we will not go into that lol

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Done worse than that.......but we will not go into that lol

and me meters look funny under cold mains pressure

 

[unguided1]

Lol done it meself, Working in a 1950s house cutting out some pipework in the first floor, I knew the heating and DHW was drained down, never even considered that there might be gas pipes under the floor upstairs.

We all make mistakes its a fact of life, But if you are still concerned just ask him if he is Gas Safe registerd he should be able to show a plastic card with his photo on it and his registration number, If he is legit I would say dont be to hard on him, he was just having a blonde moment!!!

 

[REDSAW]

sarby,
out of curiosity, what do you do work wise?.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

He was ,we is ,he will be the gas man !

so as long when he leaves the house and does not leave behind any gas leaks ,is ok !

how ever as long as engineer is on site everything is under his control and he is in-charge with all the gas work !

finally you are back and running and not overcharged ! keep his business card and call him again to service your boiler

as you know he will do it at reasonable cost !

 

[GQuigley67]

an honest mistake and he delt with it professionally, to be honest its much worse cutting into live water mains lol as with gas you need the right amount of air to gas mixture to creature any danger and if you have no source of ignition then you will be fine and since he advised you not to smoke and ventilated the area then there was wasn't much danger imho

 

[Leadbetter]

People make mistakes we arnt robots and like people have said cold mains would be much worse or an old central heating pipe thick black sludge every where !

 

[diamondgas]

I am totally ROFL ... Look at you all jumpin to the defence of the poor guy! Sooooooooo funny ... :rofl:

Why would anyone even bother to ask us such a question I wonder............ unless their into litigation........... Duh Du DUUUUUH!!! :behead:

You sound like you've had someone who knows what they're doing Sarby. The hiss was a minor discrepancy in what otherwise would have been a textbooks exacusion...:wink:

 

[Blackcatgas]

Done worse than that.......but we will not go into that lol

Please do, lol! in the plumbers arms forum.

 

[EPH]

At least he wasn't trying to remove a soldered fitting!

If he was quick and turned the gas off and had only nicked the pipe with his slice I doubt no more gas would have escaped than if he'd turned it off and cut straight through it.

Poor form though.

 

[mike_s]

I think I have probably done something similar before but it was so minor as I had only just broke into the pipe and not cut it right off so I have barely remembered it.
Sounds like there was hardly any danger here and it would've been much worse if it was water!

 

[Ryster]

LOL at the lack of LEL!Bit too geeky?

 

[Kimou]

I had to finish late due to carpets being fitted the next day. The amount of work I had to do was inhuman but I completed, screwing down the boards which I fitted anew along with some new fangled soundproofing system that rested on joists filled will insulation and plasterboard on top and the last screw went straight through the C/H pipes. 3am and the guy who owned the flat downstars was having a romantic time of it with his girlfriend naked on the living room rug and candles and whatnot. Water peeing all through his ceiling. I drained down, cut out the pipe with the hole. Made up new section, recommissioned, then I heard screaming again. I only sweated in the pipe with the hole in it again...argghhhh!!!! What can I say? Knackered was an understatement.

 

[AWheating]

forgeting to turn the gas off when you cut throught the pipe is bad enough, sweating a fitting apart with the gas still on is worse! i know somebody who has done it.

 

[tamz]

Please do, lol! in the plumbers arms forum.

It was a bad one and i would rather not share in case it fills the inexperienced with ideas :shame:

 

[tamz]

forgeting to turn the gas off when you cut throught the pipe is bad enough, sweating a fitting apart with the gas still on is worse! i know somebody who has done it.

Shhh :wink:

 

[gaspastemania]

You called a gas man out to source leak in pipework , i presume you obviously smelt the leak to know you had a leak ? So it didnt occur to you at all to turn it off yourself as most people would???
In fact if you phoned a gas engineer saying you have a leak the first thing they would say is turn it off and ventilate e.g open windows, smell a rat on this post sounds like someone stirring things up.

 

[Ryster]

You called a gas man out to source leak in pipework , i presume you obviously smelt the leak to know you had a leak ? So it didnt occur to you at all to turn it off yourself as most people would???
In fact if you phoned a gas engineer saying you have a leak the first thing they would say is turn it off and ventilate e.g open windows, smell a rat on this post sounds like someone stirring things up.

If there was a roll eyes smiley then I would be using it right here on your post.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

just of the record

did broke a still pipe in kitchen ( mains GAS DEAD LEG ) left live from the street been just caped off !!!

the hall estate had no GAS for like 10h two winters back !

Glad it snapped of as it was left live like 40 years ago and no one new about it !!

 

[richardd]

Could have been interesting if the ecv was faulty and passing and the enginner had no cap ends.