Connections - Frequently Asked Questions
Our quote gives you two options to consider. Option One will include us digging and filling in all the trenches we need on your land. Choosing Option Two means you will have to dig and fill in the trenches on your land. You can find more detail about digging your own trench further below on this page. For both options, we will do all the digging on public land.
You can find a breakdown of what’s included in your quote in the paperwork that we sent to you.
Our costs cover everything from wages to materials, vehicles and equipment hire.
We aim to finish our work and have you on gas within 6 weeks of you paying for it. However, if we need to close a road to do your work, it may take up to 90 days.
There’s four different places we can put your meter box. You should choose one of the following
- Surface Mounted: This is bolted to the outside wall of your property. If you want this, our engineering team will install this when they come and do your work. We can't put this near drains, inspection covers, or air bricks.
- Built in: This box will sit in a cavity in an outside wall of the property. You'll need to arrange for the cavity to be made and install the box before our engineer teams come to do the work. We'll provide the box, and this can be delivered to you or picked up from your nearest Wales & West Utilities depot. When you have paid for the work, our Scheduling team will contact you. Let them know you would like a delivery/collection and they will make the arrangements. Alternatively, contact our Customer Service Team on 0800 0726 814 or email connections@wwutilities.co.uk
- Unibox: This box is brown and is partially buried at the foot of an outside wall of the property. It opens with lid rather than a door. If you want this, our engineering team will install this when they come and do your work. This meter box may not be suitable for all property types.
- Internal entry: This will allow you to fit your gas meter inside your property. Our engineering team will drill a hole through your wall and install a grey pipe cover that will rise above the ground and go into your wall. If you want this, our engineering team will install this when they come and do your work.
You can see pictures of the meter boxes and information about their size here. The cost will be the same irrespective of which meter box you chose for your home. It is however important you tell us before the day of the work so the correct equipment is brought to the job.
If you’re happy with the price, we’ll need payment as soon as possible so we can book a date in for your work. The quickest and easiest way to make payment is online. You will also be able to reserve a date for your work (subject to our checks).
We can also take your card payment over the phone. Call 029 20278991 where you will be put through to an automated payment service.
You can also pay by completing the Acceptance Form with your payment details on page 5 of your quotation pack.
If you qualify to receive/have received a Fuel Poor Voucher for the full amount of your quotation, please DO NOT make a full payment. Send the voucher to us with your quotation acceptance form. If the voucher only covers part of the cost, please send us the voucher then use one of the payment options to pay off the remaining balance.
If you choose to dig a trench on your land for us to lay the gas connection, it must be done to exact specifications.
The trench must be:
- At least 500mm deep
- Between 250-300mm wide
- It's floor must be level and free from any sharp stones etc. In poor ground conditions you may choose to dig a further 75mm deeper.
Our full guide for trenching is here.
You can also to put in a duct for the gas service pipe so that you can fill in your trench before our team come to do your work. You can get this ducting from a builder’s merchants, and it must be yellow and perforated. The size of the ducting will depend on the size of the gas service pipe we install. This information will be in your quotation pack and the corresponding ducting size can be found here.
If your trenches don’t meet our requirements, we may need to charge you for any extra digging work or replanning your works.
If your new gas connection needs to cross someone else’s land, you need to make sure they have given permission for the work to happen. Please make sure all consent/easement forms are filled in and returned to us. We cannot do any work until these are received. It is your responsibility to get consent from the owner of the land.
Once you have paid for the work, we’ll contact you within twelve working days to arrange the work. Most of our customers want their work done quickly once they’ve paid. We will do our best to provide you with the earliest possible date. We plan work on a first come first served basis, and aim to finish the work and have you on gas within six weeks of payment. However, depending on our workload in your area and other factors this process can take up to 12 weeks.
Make sure you pay for your connection in plenty of time taking this into consideration
If you don’t want the work to be done until a certain date, please also let us know.
We will give you a date your work will start and finish. These may be different, so please don’t arrange any follow-on work like a meter fitting appointment until after the finish date we give you.
If we work on the road we put traffic management in place. This keeps our colleagues and the local community safe while we are working. The traffic management we use will depend on what work we need to do and the impact they will have on the road. If the impact is low, the traffic management will be relatively simple - like warning signs. But in some places we may need to use temporary traffic lights. This will need permission from the local council before works can start. In some circumstances we may need to close the road: this will also need permission from the local council. Road closures need at least three months advanced notification to the local council before work start.
We don't install gas meters - you'll have to arrange that with a gas supplier. You can find a list of gas suppliers here. Once you've paid for your connection, we will give you a Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN). This will allow your gas supplier to set up an account and make arrangements for a gas meter to be fitted. We strongly recommend that you contact a gas supplier as soon as you receive your MPRN to avoid delays in being able to start using gas.
On occasions, one of our engineers may be contracted to install the gas meter at your property by your gas supplier.
A two-person team will come and do your work. They will ring you the day before to introduce themselves.
If you are having an alteration to your gas supply, another engineer will visit you to move the gas meter to the new position. They have 4-hour appointment slot to attend your property.
We would rather you were there when we are working, as we need full access to the property. We also need someone with permission to make all the important decisions about the connection is onsite on the day of the visit. Please also make sure that the area we need to work in is as clear as possible. That means clearing away any skips and scaffolding.
If we arrive at your property on the agreed date and we are not able to work for reasons within your control – like if there is scaffolding or skips in the way, we will charge you a fee of £40+VAT per visit.
Once we have completed the connection we’ll tidy up and put everything back as we found it within five days.