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Original poster

Cadent replacing gas pipes. Anyone experienced this?

94 replies

JenniferBooth · 26/01/2024 21:57

This is going to be happening on a housing estate where a friend of mine lives. I was round there when a letter about it was delivered. They are asking for quite a lot including access to homes from 7.30 am on wards and then want to be in and out all day amongst a lot of other things like digging up drives. Has anyone had any experience of this The experiences of it ive read on their trustpilot dont fill me with confidence.

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 26/01/2024 22:06

Never heard of it. Wonder how on earth that works with people working?
Have they mentioned anything about surveying your properties incase of damages needing to be proved or anything about repairs to driveways/gardens eg who pays?

hopeful bump that someone knows as am very curious and downright nosey.

Pigeonqueen · 26/01/2024 22:09

Yep they’ve done all the roads round us (south Norfolk). No issues at all. It’s part of keeping the gas pipes safe long term, it’s necessary work.

Pigeonqueen · 26/01/2024 22:09

I should add they’ve not dug up any drives where we are - all the work has been on the pavements outside the house.

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 26/01/2024 22:12

@Pigeonqueen did they not ask for home access as the op alludes they’ve done in her friends case? Or is it like water upto x point it is cadents responsibility and after that it a the homeowners problem?

OP posts:
KateyCuckoo · 26/01/2024 22:14

Yes they've done our whole area, in fact out was done about 5 years ago.

Pigeonqueen · 26/01/2024 22:29

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 26/01/2024 22:12

@Pigeonqueen did they not ask for home access as the op alludes they’ve done in her friends case? Or is it like water upto x point it is cadents responsibility and after that it a the homeowners problem?

We were actually away when they did it. I went up to them in the street (they were working further up) and they said they didn’t need access but that when we came back we’d need to ring a number to get someone to come and turn the gas back on. So we did and they came very quickly, within a couple of hours, turned it back on, all fine. It really wasn’t a big deal at all.

sarahc336 · 26/01/2024 22:37

We've had ours done and it was fine

Rummikub · 26/01/2024 22:47

I was dreading it. But they were alright. Some arranged for the meter to be moved to front of house at same time.
Theyll turn the gas off. Swap the pipe to meter. Turn on gas and check all gas appliances.

stonedaisy · 26/01/2024 23:00

Yes had this done. A bit annoying but it got done eventually. They'll want to do your street and then move on to the next as quickly as possible

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 26/01/2024 23:03

@Pigeonqueen thank you! I wonder why they want access for so long to homes as in the op post? Unless it’s either a a way covering all bases as they won’t necessarily know a set time to do each house - more they expect to cover ten houses per day, but might achieve more/less and want flexibility.

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 26/01/2024 23:03

Its flats so lots of people

OP posts:
Rummikub · 26/01/2024 23:06

Yes it’s a block of time to cover a few houses. They weren’t that king in my house. Maybe an hour.

Ponks · 26/01/2024 23:07

Yes, had to dig up part of our drive which was only done at great expense the year before ☹️. They reinstated it but not to same quality / standard and communications from them were not great.

lovemybooks · 27/01/2024 03:07

Yes had them in our 9 floors block of flats .
Very efficient , clean and tidy and very helpful . I’m in central London .

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 27/01/2024 13:29

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 Didnt mention anything about any possible damage. Letter did say to let his landlord know so he will have to ring the HA so i guess they will be getting loads of calls on Monday but i thought they would already know. He did also get a notice 18 months ago saying they would be doing this between September and November of 2022 but nothing happened

OP posts:
CatPancake · 27/01/2024 13:34

Yes they did it round our way. The engineer who was round mentioned the local pipes were very hazardous- you do NOT want an underground leak etc.

i never made sure I was home particularly. They came round 2 times to turn gas on and off, check appliances including boiler.

it was very loud, if you work from home it might be an idea to plan to go into the office for those days when they’re directly outside your home. They were around the area for a few weeks.

difficult walking on footpaths etc.

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 27/01/2024 13:38

Whats worrying is he has limited mobility due to waiting since 2019 for a knee replacement so his car is always parked in the car park right outside his flat. It cant be moved further away because he simply cant walk that far.

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 27/01/2024 13:38

@JenniferBooth sorry I assumed he was a home owner. If he’s HA then it’s not his problem regarding property damage / reinstatement. A big win!
Although a phone call to his landlord would be a good idea, they may ask for a photocopy / scan of the letter.

booktokbear · 27/01/2024 13:42

Yes they've done all the streets found here. The guys organising were helpful. Went round people seeing the best days to do which houses. We had to have all the pipes changed into our garage. Took a few hours. A 10 days of or noise digging the street up though.

Then they just move from one street to the next until the whole area is done.

InAMess2023 · 27/01/2024 13:44

Weirdly I've literally just posted a thread about my experience! I'll copy and paste below rather than typing it out again...

--

Well it’s not really making a complaint as I can’t resolve my situation but it’s more advice for what to do in future…

For context, I have ASD and my home is very much my safe place and my quiet sanctuary as one thing I really struggle with is sensitivity to noises

Had someone from the gas board visit about six months ago to tell me that they were going to replace the pipes in my area. Came in and looked at my gas supply and said someone would need to come in and replace. Nothing heard any further…

Last week they rocked up outside and started digging holes all along my side of the street (obviously noisy). Came into my garden and started digging holes in the driveway. First morning I had to go out and have words with them due to them talking about cocaine and anal sex underneath my window while I was trying to WFH! Also put barriers across my driveway meaning I couldn’t get the car out.

They’ve been in my house 4 times this week, no advance warning any time just knocked on the door and said ‘I need to come in’. I don’t even let my mum come in usually without advance warning!

Thought I’d get some peace today but no they’re doing weekend working as well. 12 weeks they’ll be in the street and I’m already losing the will with the noise after 4 days! But one of the reasons I WFH is due to how noisy our office is as well. So no escape

AIBU to have expected a little bit more warning and explanation of when things would happen and what they needed to do?! Not sure what they’d have done if I wasn’t home either. Even just a letter or phone call when they were due to start would have been better than nothing.

I don’t know whether to flag this up or just put it down to my ASD. It’s only likely to be a once in a generation works so not a regular thing.

Hardbackwriter · 27/01/2024 13:45

We had this very recently. It was a bit of a pain because they had to dig up most of the road and pavement and because they told me to try and be in on the day (as with a pp they said if we weren't in we'd have to ring to have the gas put back on and warned that that meant it might be off overnight). This meant I had to be in all day without heating, which wasn't a delight. It didn't last long though and I'd describe it as inconvenient rather than really problematic. They did come first to check for vulnerable people in the house and said they could make additional arrangements if there were any.

WingingItSince1973 · 27/01/2024 14:00

We've had ours done last month and my parents who live close by just had there's. With my parents they were given 2 electric blanket/throws, 1 portable heater and £60 in Tesco vouchers! Plus the workmen damaged their fence and have come and put it back and fixed it as good as new. They are both over 60 and claimed to have 2 adhd adults in the house. I never thought to ask for anything.

the80sweregreat · 27/01/2024 14:05

We had this done two years ago
I did ask if the access to our driveway and indoors to get to the gas meter was necessary and they said yes , if people refuse to have it done or they can't gain access then the police would be called ! They had a few stories of people who had refused , but they didn't get very far
They had to dig up our driveway and then put it all back.

Original poster
JenniferBooth · 27/01/2024 14:07

There is a review on trustpilot from someone who said they were told by them to cancel an NHS appointment

OP posts: