AECV's and the regs

[KingDoey]

Evening,

Simple question. If gas meter over 5m from front door externally, is an AECV only required if a NEW installation? Or does it apply to existing installations aswell? Bit of a grey area we were discussing today.

Cheers

 

[Riley]

Id be interested to know this too mate. Weirdly we were having the same discussion today

 

[KingDoey]

Yeah mate I have heard conflicting views on this some seem to think it only applies to new installations...cant seen to find anything online about it either. Sure someone on here knows the answer! If not am going To ring gassafe tomorrow to get clarification

 

[acecharly]

Its in the detailed regs book towards the front I think.

 

[GrahamM]

Been an ongoing issue with us lately.
Having umpteen housings on our books we required some clear as mud clarification from Gas Safe.
As of last week this is what we been told to work to:

Ground floor house/flat.....
Is the meter on perimeter of the building? Is the current tenant capable of accessing the ECV if they smell gas? Yes =No AECV required. No= AECV required.
1st floor flats etc require AECV!

 

[KingDoey]

Thats straight from the words of the almighty Gas Safe yeah Graham?

 

[Riley]

Still doesn't cover retrospective ie old installs

 

[erion]

Had to quote customer the regs as they didnt like the idea of an aecv

8.17.1 An additional emergency control valve (AECV) shall be fitted:
a) to the installation pipe where it enters the building if the meter is sited 6 m or more away from the
building; or
b) inside individual flats served by a large single or multiple meter installation located in a remote or
communal area (see Figure 7).

Here is the rest of it

8.17.2 Every AECV shall:
a) be labelled or marked to show its open and closed position;
b) be fitted in an accessible position;
c) be easy to operate;
d) be fitted with a suitable handle which is securely attached, or other permanent means of operation;
e) where the lever moves in the vertical plane, move to the “off” position in a downward direction.
There shall be a permanent notice attached to the valve giving the following information:
a) the valve is an “emergency control for customers’ use”;
b) details of the parts of the installation isolated by the valve;
c) the telephone number of the Gas Emergency Service; and
d) advice to the customer on actions to be taken if they think they can smell gas.
8.17.3 A pressure test point shall be installed no more than 300 mm downstream of the AECV.

 

[Riley]

Had to quote customer the regs as they didnt like the idea of an aecv

8.17.1 An additional emergency control valve (AECV) shall be fitted:
a) to the installation pipe where it enters the building if the meter is sited 6 m or more away from the
building; or
b) inside individual flats served by a large single or multiple meter installation located in a remote or
communal area (see Figure 7).

Here is the rest of it

8.17.2 Every AECV shall:
a) be labelled or marked to show its open and closed position;
b) be fitted in an accessible position;
c) be easy to operate;
d) be fitted with a suitable handle which is securely attached, or other permanent means of operation;
e) where the lever moves in the vertical plane, move to the “off” position in a downward direction.
There shall be a permanent notice attached to the valve giving the following information:
a) the valve is an “emergency control for customers’ use”;
b) details of the parts of the installation isolated by the valve;
c) the telephone number of the Gas Emergency Service; and
d) advice to the customer on actions to be taken if they think they can smell gas.
8.17.3 A pressure test point shall be installed no more than 300 mm downstream of the AECV.

Yeah this makes sense but is it something that needs to be done on an old existing system. I would say yes but customer will say show me where it says that and this document is ambiguous as ever. Not criticising what you've put as it is right however it does seem to imply new build

 

[newcastle phill]

Define old
I suppose if the installation post-dates the reg inception date it should comply

 

[Riley]

Well old being a 25 years old

 

[KingDoey]

I always thought it was 5m so glad to hear its 6 as had a few that are debatable as to whether they are too far from front door. Having said that the regs state 'from the building' so say you had 12m from the door to the meter my take on that is no aecv necessary as long as meter is attached to building? Guess its all down to interpretation?

 

[GrahamM]

Had to quote customer the regs as they didnt like the idea of an aecv

8.17.1 An additional emergency control valve (AECV) shall be fitted:
a) to the installation pipe where it enters the building if the meter is sited 6 m or more away from the
building; or
b) inside individual flats served by a large single or multiple meter installation located in a remote or
communal area (see Figure 7).

Here is the rest of it

8.17.2 Every AECV shall:
a) be labelled or marked to show its open and closed position;
b) be fitted in an accessible position;
c) be easy to operate;
d) be fitted with a suitable handle which is securely attached, or other permanent means of operation;
e) where the lever moves in the vertical plane, move to the “off” position in a downward direction.
There shall be a permanent notice attached to the valve giving the following information:
a) the valve is an “emergency control for customers’ use”;
b) details of the parts of the installation isolated by the valve;
c) the telephone number of the Gas Emergency Service; and
d) advice to the customer on actions to be taken if they think they can smell gas.
8.17.3 A pressure test point shall be installed no more than 300 mm downstream of the AECV.

This info is out of date as new BS6400 released in December 2015.
There are changes to AECV information as i touched on in earlier post.

 

[erion]

Sorry didnt realise is that old installs iswell

 

[Riley]

See it's not clear

 

[newcastle phill]

Anybody dropbox me a copy please. Pm me ta muchas