To not expect gas to be coming into our flat from downstairs?

[bumperlicious]

Sorry, bit of a long rant, but we live in a big old victorian building with 13 flats in it. A month ago we called Tranco because we smelt gas in our flat (only the flats downstairs have gas) they came at 1am and ended up calling the police to wake the neighbours downstairs up to make sure their flats weren't leaking gas. Turns out the gas is coming from a vent positioned just underneath both our bedroom and living room windows, and the guy who owns it said the boiler had been misfiring a bit.

Transco said it wasn't dangerous, but there is obviously something wrong with the boiler and it's not nice for us to have our flat smell of gas, esp when we are having a baby any day now.

So I have asked our letting agents who manage the building if they would ask our neighbour to get it looked at (they manage the house so these things are their responsibility and we don't know the neighbour) and they were really unhelpful and said they will mention it to him but can't force him to get it checked.

Surely that is not right? And surely we have a right to expect that our house isn't filled with gas every time he runs his hot water. It makes me feel quite sick - and I'm 9 months pg?

If you are smelling gas bumper then surely it is dangerous! Call Transco again and insist they come out and check the gas levels and give you some sort of written confirmation that it is safe.

Are the flats leased or owned ? It is your landlord's repsonsibility to ensure your home is safe and any rental should have an annual Gas Safety Inspection , including the boiler service and emissions check but unfortunately it is not the same for owner occupied unless the lease states it. I would have thought the managing agent could force it though as it might invalidate the buildings insurance. In the meantime call Transco out again to get more details.

Our flat is rented and the one below is owned, but we go through a letting agent, who also happen to manage the building, hence why I think it is their responsiblity to get this checked out not just a "we'll mention it to him but can't force him to do anything..."

The thing is when Transco came round they said it wasn't dangerous, which I stupidly mentione to the letting agent, but even if it is not dangerous per say it's still not nice to have gas coming into our flat, and of course it's summer and we live in an old building so we have our windows open all the time. It's also not going to be very good for our newborn.

I think I might call transco again next time it happens, and you are right, get them to put something in writing.

Oh my god, you need to get out your flat now and go straight to your agent.Having worked for transco i know pretty much every procedure in the book.

Call transco again. Presumably you cant get to the meter or presumably its in the basement(considering you live in flats) the operator should have you evacuate the whole premisis.(yes every flat) If people ignore the warnings then they put them self at risk. Do not attempt to go to the basement if thats where the gas meter is if you smell gas at the basement door. Do not switch anything on or off leave everything the way it is and do not smoke or strike matches. If you are smelling gas from this blokes boiler the engineer should have condemned the boiler, cutting it off making it impossible for the guy to use until a registered corgi engineer has come to investigate and rectify the problem. The smell could be anything from a blocked flue to a gas leak or maybe the boiler isn't burning properly. if this is the case there is also the problem of carbon monoxide poising, people can become very ill and even die from it, and not even know about it because carbon monoxide has no smell, taste or colour. Please do invest in a carbon monoxide tester.
Your landlord has a legal obligation to provide you with gas safety certificates completed by a qualified corgi gas engineer and this should be done every 6 months. Whoever owns the flat beneath you also has a legal obligation to keep his gas installations safe and regularly checked, for the safety of himself and other. If refuses to get his boiler checked out them if you call transco enough they will eventually cut him off from the road ( so he wont be able to use any of his gas installations) which will force him to get his gas appliances checked out.

hope this helps, let me know how you get on.

Ness

oh and you may be wasting you time by writing to transco all they will say in there letter is "engineer arrived at" such and such a time. engineer found no gas escape at such and such a time. engineer left at such and such a time" plus you dont own the property so they wouldnt give you any details. you letting agent will have to lease with the owner of the property so he can request it for the letting agent and then the letting agent will have to give it to you only with the owner permission.

Thanks for the advice nessie. The Transco guy was really good when he came out, he called the police who woke every person in the flat at 1am , but the flats all checked out ok, and it's not leaking into our flat, he even came back the next morning to check it again, it's coming from the vent outside, but by the time it disperses into the air it apparently isn't dangerous, it's just unfortunate that the vent happens to be positioned right below our two main windows. It just isn't very nice. But I am sure the house management people should be doing more to check it out.

Its sounds to me its just when his boiler starts up, could the vebt under your window be the flue to his boiler? if so they really should get it checked

Would one of those carbon monoxide detector thingies show if it was dangerous?

When your boiler is serviced next can you ask the guy to run his CO meter by their vent ?

You can get a 'firangel' digital co2 detector from woolworths or B&Q and they explain the risk of each level.They are a ood thing for anyone to buy, and not at all expensive.
Our oven was recently leaking and we wouldn't have had a clue had the alarm not gone off very loudly to let us know. I dread to think what might have happened.

I would think if it is dangerous then transco have a legal right to intervene and shut off the gas supply if the landlord or tenants don't agree to it..

Sorry its been so long but yes you are right, in ANY DANGEROUS situation Transco ( now known as National Grid) do have a legal duty as its a very very dangerous substance if you need more info go to the corgi site link below.

www.trustcorgi.com/consumer/buyacarbonmonox idealarm.htmx

and this one has effects and symptoms of CO2

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisonin g