Domestic Customers - Frequently Asked Questions
Information for domestic customers affected by our gas-pipe-replacement work - Common questions and answers
To make sure your area continues to have a safe and reliable gas supply, we are replacing our old metal gas pipes with new plastic ones. Our replacement programme is part of a larger 30-year programme, which began in 2002, and is a requirement of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
In most cases, you will be without gas for less than a day. We try to keep the amount of time you are without gas to a minimum. To turn your gas supply back on, we will need access to your property. It will not be possible for you to use your gas appliances until we do this and confirm that they are safe for you to use.
If you don’t have gas, we will not need to bother you at home, but there will be a level of disruption going on outside your property while we work on your neighbours’ gas supplies.
If you don’t have gas, but are interested in finding out how you could become a gas customer, please contact us on Freephone 0800 912 2999 and we will arrange a quote for a new gas connection.
Some people qualify for a grant towards the cost of a new gas connection, through our Warm House Assistance scheme. There are certain criteria which need to apply for you to be eligible for a grant, but we can explain these to you.
We do need access to your property to complete our work, but we will do our best to arrange a convenient date and time with you, so you don’t need to take time off work. However, we can’t always guarantee that this will be possible.
If there is no one at your property, we can still turn off your gas supply. We will leave our contact details so that you can get in touch and arrange for our engineers to return to complete our work and then arrange for them to turn your gas supply back on.
We will do our best to provide you with alternative heating or cooking facilities (or both). However, we prioritise customers most in need, including people with a disability, those who are chronically sick, elderly people and people with young children. If you need alternative heating or cooking facilities, please contact us on Freephone 0800 912 2999 as soon as possible.
If we need to replace your gas supply, we may need to dig at your property. If we replace your gas supply, we may also need to reposition your gas meter. To get access to our gas pipe, we will also need to dig up part of the road and pavement.
We will fill in any holes neatly and to a good standard using, where reasonably possible, the same type of material as the original. However, we will only resurface the part of your drive, path, or garden where we have dug. We always try keep any digging to a minimum.
If there is going to be a significant delay, we will let you know either by writing to you or by visiting you in person. Replacing gas pipes can turn out to be more complicated once we actually start work than we expected when we were planning the work, and this can lead to delays in starting, continuing or completing our work.
Work on gas pipes outside your property needs different knowledge and skills to the work that we carry out on gas pipes inside your property. Because of this, we employ the most appropriate engineers to carry out the different stages of the work.
This is essential work that we must carry out to make sure your area continues to have a safe and reliable gas supply for many years to come.
You can speak to the team on-site. If you are not satisfied with their response, please ask for the name and number of their supervisor.
Once we have completed our work and turned your gas supply back on, our engineers will ask for your feedback. We are always trying to improve the standard of service we provide to people so this is very important to us. If you have any other questions, please contact our customer service team on 02921 678 455 or Freephone 0800 912 2999 or enquiries@wwutilities.co.uk