Removing a gas hob DIY

Installing a new kitchen in the spring and I would like to remove the current old gas hob and replace with an induction hob now. This will then be fitted to the new kitchen later.

I am reasonably competent so my question is. Can I isolate and cap off the old hob when I remove it or do I have to bring in a gas engineer?

quick Google tells me this may actually be something a “competent person” can do but installing a new one is a no-no.

Does anyone have any experiences????

I’d get a gas engineer – when I swapped gas cookers, the engineer pointed out that the valve didn’t actually seal properly when disconnected from the cooker

interesting question isn’t it – the definition of a ‘competent person’. I think they bascially mean you have some form of industry recognised accreditation.

I need to replace the fan on our range, but to get to it I need to disconnect the gas. I’ve been recommended this isn’t something I should try myself. I regard myself as pretty competent but really don’t want to blow my house up / invalidate insurances

Ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen!…

…for me – not a chance I’d be messing with gas.

You can “remove” it yourself, but only after a gas engineer has disconnected and capped the supply to it for you. That is law, not opinion.

I uninstalled our old gas hob and installed a new range cooker. IIRC it was one screw fit connector which I just wrapped up with PTFE tape to get a good seal. 20+ years later, we’re still here.

I’ve also re-routed the gas pipes round the kitchen, no more complex than moving water pipes (lower pressure).

I uninstalled our old gas hob and installed a new range cooker.

Presumably that was under the old regulations. And wasn’t really a disconnect/cap and then turn the gas back on situation, like the OP.

I’ve also removed a gas cooker.
It was just a bayonet fitting to disconnect the pipe.
I used some soapy water around the fitting after removing the cooker to make sure it wasn’t leaking.

If I was trying to cap the pipe off I’d get someone in though.

For the peace of mind, I would get a qualified person in to do it. Why take the risk?

Problem is the gas safe guys know they have you over a barrel so try it on for ridiculous prices.

I needed our boiler flue adjusted. quotes of over £1k, in the end I found a guy who would do it for a bargain £500. For 3 hours work. Parts wise, new seals.

I removed our gas cooker a few weeks ago bayonet fitting then I got someone in to cap it. I consider myself competent to do most DIY but I don’t play about with gas.

How much were you charged for capping out of interest?

You can “remove” it yourself, but only after a gas engineer has disconnected and capped the supply to it for you. That is law, not opinion.

My point was this is not clear. If its law then I wouldnt even consider it. Do you have a link?

Problem is the gas safe guys know they have you over a barrel so try it on for ridiculous prices.

It costs a fortune to do the training, get the certification, MAINTAIN the certification and I believe there are specialist tools mandated as part of the registration, (implied to me by a gas safe engineer when he was repairing our boiler) that’s why the charges are high. Plus all the other usual business expenses.

Granted £1k for a flue mod does sound expensive, but customer is not just paying for a few quid in plastic seals and £15/hour wages.

That is law, not opinion.

Which act of Parliament?

About £30 if I remember correctly still cheaper than blowing house up.

I believe there are specialist tools

I did look at buying a flue gas analyser (as I DIY service our boiler). The reason I didn’t was the sensor is like a CO sensor, it only lasts so many years, so I wouldn’t really get VFM out of buying it as it would need replacing after 6 years IIRC.

Other than that, you don’t really need any specialist tools (pressure sensor for checking flow loss is less than 1mb, but they’re cheap).

The rest of it is just basic plumbing….

About £30 if I remember correctly still cheaper than blowing house up.

Sounds very binary. Do you have the number of the qualified gas engineer who will come to my house and do this work for £30?

Done exactly this at our old house, gas cooker out for electric and induction.

Bread and butter for any Gas engineer, will do it on an afternoon and charge you a nominal fee.

Why did I pay somebody to do it, when I’m perfectly competent and capable of doing it myself?

For the little bit of paper that comes with it.

So if the house explodes, and takes next doors with it, I’m not taking the cost.

Edit – I seem to recall I was also charged thirty quid. Its not worth not doing it.

Whilst we’re here why would you want a ‘gas engineer’ in your kitchen? Most gas fitters and plumbers are qualified as technicians – unless of course you mean someone post-degree professionally qualified, in which case there’s no way I’d want some desk-jockey tinkering with my pipework 🤣 (I’m professionally qualified before you ask)

Having been involved in the design, manufacture and installation of high pressure oxygen systems I’d have no qualms about isolating, disconnecting and capping a domestic gas pipe provided there’s an isolation valve in the feed- it’s basic plumbing and use soapy water to check for leaks etc.

If its law then I wouldnt even consider it.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

This particular circumstance had been covered by law since 1994 though, I think.

Cost us £30 an appliance to be disconnected and capped as well, about 6 years ago. And in the end they charged us £60 for all three, as two could be disconnected at the same point.

From an earlier post…

the definition of a ‘competent person’. I think they bascially mean you have some form of industry recognised accreditation.

Confident doesn’t meant competent. Easy to prove you are confident that you can carry out the work correctly… very hard to prove you are competent though self-certification and without training and/or accreditation, if you ever had to.

This BS comes up time and time again. Try and find anyone that has ever been “done” for doing their own work.

AFAIK you can do what you like in your own home if you are competent to do it, gas or electric.

Only if you are taking money from someone to do it do you need any qualification.

How do you prove competency? Well if you do it according to the regulations and do good quality work then you are competent.

If your work fails and kills someone are you incompetent? Well its not as clear as that. That is why every gas safe “engineer” will have insurance. Sometimes things go wrong.

A simple pressure drop test with a manometer before doing anything will tell you if something is leaking before you start.

Unhook the appliance and cap off supply. Use leak detect spray.

Do another pressure drop test with you manometer to see if you have introduced a new leak. IIRC you are allowed a bit of leak in the rule book!

https://bpec.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Gas-PowerPoints-Shop.pdf

When you lay a new circuit to supply the induction hob, you _should_ notify building control and get sign off.

IIRC you are allowed a bit of leak in the rule book!

I did think that was pretty crazy when I read it many years ago. Can’t remember what the numbers are but I’d say a reasonable definition of competent is being able to fit a gas pipe that doesn’t leak.

The heysham house gas explosion last year which sadly killed the little boy living next door was due to a chap capping off his own living flame gas fire, when the gas engineer does a job and charges, he is making himself responsible for any actions after.

I would just pay up.

try and find anyone that has ever been “done” for doing their own work

You legally need to be competent. DIY work that never goes wrong will obviously never result in your competency being questioned/tested. Good luck with that.

This BS comes up time and time again. Try and find anyone that has ever been “done” for doing their own work.

Yeah, ‘getting done’ is definitely the biggest risk…..

Sounds very binary. Do you have the number of the qualified gas engineer who will come to my house and do this work for £30?

If you happen to be near me then I do! He’ll probably take 2 hours and talk about bikes for most of that! In fact if he was servicing my boiler at the same time he’d probably do it for no extra cost if I put the kettle on and opened a packet of biscuits whilst the system was draining or refilling!

I consider that I am competent – I spent 3 years working with hydrogen, methane and carbon monoxide lines at high pressure and high temp so am pretty confident in my ability to do the work safely and avoid leaks. I’m less confident that (a) a court will agree if I had to convince them; (b) any future home buyer/surveyor/building inspector who realised a gas appliance was removed would accept my PhD thesis as evidence of competence! So I’d let a gas safe certified person do the work. Its worth considering capping the pipe much further back – legacy pipes can be a pita for fault finding in many years to come – and I can tell you from experience* when you do get a leak behind your kitchen units Transco/SGN etc won’t be too worried about carefully disassembling your cupboards to get to it.

* I moved into a house where there was a dodgy gas fitting that leaked and I discovered it at midnight in the middle of December. At 2 am tansco’s options were – I cut off your supply at the meter and you’ll have no heating or hot water or I take my big hammer to the unit under the hob to get to cap off that pipe.

Get a firm grip of it, feet shoulder width apart …..

We had a gas fire capped off a few weeks ago, they charged a flat rate of £75. I didn’t even think about doing it myself, even though I do loads of other DIY work.

it’s basic plumbing and use soapy water to check for leaks etc.

Back in the 70s they used to run a lighter around the joint, if it leaked you’d see a small flame!

Having been involved in the design, manufacture and installation of high pressure oxygen systems I’d have no qualms about isolating, disconnecting and capping a domestic gas pipe provided there’s an isolation valve in the feed

Yes, but as you noted “provided there’s an isolation valve in the feed”.

But you know what you’re doing, whereas the OP really doesn’t, else he wouldn’t be asking on an MTB Forum…

We found a capped off gas pipe under the floor during some other work (old gas fire supply we assume).
Got someone in to cap it near the meter as it was in the way of what we were doing. Cost us £60 I think and he removed it from right by the meter meaning we’ve got less pipework to work roud when we do the kitchen.

No way would I be doing that myself.
Can I solder pipework? Yes. Can I turn off a valve to isolate the gas supply? Yes.
Is it worth £60 for me to know it’s been done properly and been tested and I now have a gas safe cert saying it was all done properly? Abso-frikkin-lutely.

Everyone values things differently but we’ve only been here a little under 4 years and we quite like our house so would like to reduce any chances of it being remodeled with fire / explosion.

Si

Someone mentioned the Heysham explosion above, exactly what can happen with a bit of gas diy.

If you happen to need your boiler servicing you could get it done at the same time.

What this thread proves is that we carefully design and implement regulations often revising them in the light of accidents to keep the public safe in their own home.

Yet there will always someone who knows better and will DIY, some out of poverty, some ignorance, some just because they are cheap, some because they can sock it to the man.

Yes the heysham explosion I m sure I read the chap capped off a gas fire under the floorboards, slow leak built up unobserved.

4 people arrested as of last month on manslaughter charges.

Police were appealing for claims up to 2 mile radius for roof damage as a result.

For 60 quid I know what I d do.

What this thread proves is that we carefully design and implement regulations often revising them in the light of accidents to keep the public safe in their own home.

Yet there will always someone who knows better and will DIY

Has anybody said they’d ignore the regulations because they know better? A DIYer can still do work to correct regs, or exceed them. One of the reasons I DIY (in general, not talking about gas) is because I then know exactly how well the work has been done. That’s not a brag, I know the majority of professionals can do it better than me, but I also know there are plenty that will do a slap dash job.

I think you have to be Gas safe registered to do anything which requires turning the gas off. You can remove the cooker (if it has one of those bayonet spring fittings).

Personally, for the money, I would just pay someone. It’s not that much and you get documentation if you sell the house.

Usually, ‘competent person’ means it has to be checked by a gas safe person anyway…

I think you have to be Gas safe registered to do anything which requires turning the gas off. You can remove the cooker

No you don’t, read further up this thread.
If you are doing it as a paid job, then you need to be Gassafe registered.
To DIY, you need to be competent. That doesnt mean you need to have passed numerous exams/courses. It means you know the requirements for gas work, and have done the relevant testing after the work to ensure there are no leaks and the work is to a good standard. That means you have capped it off properly with a soldered end, and have done a pressure drop test on completion. Soapy water around the joint works, but is not a good enough test.