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Inspection of Natural Gas Meters for Home Inspectors & Owners PlumbingAPedia © Enter your search terms Submit search form   Search This Website - InspectAPedia.com Safety & Inspection of Natural Gas Meters for Home Inspectors & Home Owners How to report defects found in oil or gas piping inspections Home inspection report language examples

Here we discuss how to visually inspect natural or piped-in gas meters for defects and safety concerns. Readers whose homes are served by bottled or LP gas should see LP Gas Tanks and can read about LP gas tank gauges at LP Gas Tank Gauges

This document provides free sample draft home inspection report language for reporting defects in oil and gas piping at residential properties. Here we provide descriptions and photographs of unsafe gas piping, indications of unsafe or improperly operating gas appliances, gas meters, and other gas installation defects are provided.

Natural gas or piped-in gas safety warning: improper installation and even improper inspection and testing methods involving natural or "LP" gas can involve dangerous conditions and risk fire or explosion. If you smell gas you should leave the building immediately and should do so without doing anything that could create a spark such as operating a light switch or telephone. From a safe location, call your gas company's emergency line and/or your fire department. The text provided here is a working draft and may be incomplete or inaccurate.

Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. NOTICE: while example report language is provided here, reproduction of this or any of our web pages or their contents at other websites or in printed documents for sale is prohibited. © Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Un-Biased Reporting are Assured for this website - see pledge link at below-left.

Immediate LP or natural gas safety hazards: if there is evidence of an LP or natural gas leak at a building, gas odors, for example, you should:

• Do not do anything that is likely to cause a gas explosion, such as lighting a match, operating an electrical switch, or even using a telephone in the building
• Leave the building immediately
• Notify other building occupants of the safety concern
• Contact the local gas company and/or fire department

Safety & Inspection of Natural Gas Meters for Home Inspectors & Home Owners

If the gas meter is located close to a heating system, such as in this photograph where the piped-in natural gas meter and its control valve were located next to and nearly touching a hot air furnace, you should review the safety and building code compliance installation with your gas company. Gas piping or meters which could leak gas into a heating system or duct system are dangerous.

If the gas meter is close to or touching the ground outdoors or touching a building surface indoors, such as in the photographs above where the piped-in natural gas meter is outside partly buried and inside the gas meter resting on and touching brick in a wet basement, there is a danger of gas meter corrosion and dangerous gas leaks. Outside the soil needs to be removed so that the meter is not touching dirt. If this corrective measure means that we've created a low area by the foundation it's important to keep roof spillage out of the low spot or we may invite building foundation leaks and basement water entry. A window well can be installed around such an excavation to help keep surface runoff away from the building. You should review the safety and building code compliance installation with your gas company as soon as possible. Gas piping or meters which could leak gas are dangerous. In this photograph (click the photograph to enlarge it) corrosion is visible on the bottom of the gas meter where it's supported by wet brick.

Gas Meter Capacity or Adequacy

Safety Suggestion: gas meter adequacy: If additional gas equipment has been added to this building since the installation of the original gas service meter, it is possible that the added demand can result in low gas pressure or unsafe operation. The meter itself may need to be replaced with a higher capacity unit for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.

Gas Meter Venting Requirements

When a gas meter is used indoors good practice and plumbing codes require that the meter regulator be connected to a vent pipe extending to the outdoors so that in the unlikely event of a leak-failure of the gas pressure regulator, leaking gas will not accumulate in the building where it would form an explosion hazard.

Safety Recommendation: gas regulator vent: We did not find a vent pipe venting the gas regulator (located inside the building) to outside. Such vents are recommended and may be required by local or state codes for safety. Please review this question with your gas supplier.

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Technical Reviewers

Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.

• Daniel Friedman - InspectAPedia.com ^TM Website Author/Editor
• National Fuel Gas Code, ANSI Z223.1-yyyy - American Gas Association / National Fire Protection Association
• LP-Gas Serviceman's Handbook,Fisher-Rosemount, Fisher Controls
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Pamphlets No. 54 and 58.
• Specifications for Gas Installations, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation
• "Gaslight", Gary Quilliam, The Old House Journal, March/April 1989 article describes fixtures, modern fixtures, and sources of supply.
• Residential Gas Hot Water Heater Pocket Partner - Testing and Trouble Shooting, 19. State Corp., Ashland City, TN 37015
• Also See: - HW Boilers: Leaks, Corrosion, Expansion Tanks, Air Purge
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

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