Our network contains more than 74,000 kilometres of pipes. Making sure all these pipes deliver your gas safely and reliably means that we sometimes need to upgrade or repair them.
With our pipes buried underground, we need to work in the road to access our pipes when it comes to replace or repair them. We know no-one likes roadworks, so we’ll do all we can to minimise disruption.
Gas network upgrade
We’re working on a 30-year programme to replace our old metal pipes with new plastic pipe, which will ensure continued safe and reliable gas supplies for many years to come.
We always provide notice in advance of planned work to upgrade our network. If your home or business is supplied with gas, we will need to test and potentially replace the service pipe to your property. If we need to replace your service pipe, we will also need to disconnect your gas supply and we aim to have this restored on the same day.
This may also involve excavating outside your property, in the footpath, driveway or road. The holes and trenches will always be protected using cones, signs and barriers. We will keep the disruption to a minimum and when we have finished the area will be reinstated.
We’ll get in touch with you to let you know what we need to do and will arrange to visit your property on a particular date. Should we need to interrupt your gas supply, we’ll tell you beforehand.
If you’re going to be away on holiday or the date is not convenient, please tell us so that we can discuss alternatives with you. We would also welcome your help in ensuring that any neighbours who are elderly or have additional needs are aware of the work we’re doing in the area.
Watch our short film to find out more about what to expect when we’re upgrading our gas network in your street:
You can also find more information about mains replacement projects in our leaflet.
Emergency gas pipe repairs
In an emergency, our engineers will quickly and efficiently make the situation safe. We often need to work at short notice or at night. We’re sorry for the disruption our emergency work can cause, but your safety is at the heart of everything we do.
If you smell gas or have concerns about gas safety, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
Connections and alterations
We may need to use temporary traffic lights or other traffic management if we’re working to connect a property to our network or change the location of an existing pipe to make way for redevelopment. If you’re interested in having gas connected to your property or wish to alter the position of an existing gas pipe, visit our Connections pages to find out more.
You can find more information about our work in your area on our roadworks page. You can search by place name or postcode.