Workmen in house

[Jaybird19]

Had visit today to announce workmen starting june 29 to replace all gas piping in area . Need access to house to both ground floor and kitchen on 1 st floor . Asked about any vulnerable people in house and noted this . All eleven houses to be done with access to all these houses along all three sides of my house. Told them was vulnerable so i was not allowed out and so no one was goi n g to be allowed in my house . ! But they will be passing .directly outside my front and back doors and garage while they do the other houses. Also passing under my balcony . Can i refuse them access legally ..? Am i being unreasonable. ? Bad enough creating dust, but at this time while outside is safer it would be safer if not done especially as tracking is likely going to be dubious ar the time .

Thi s has been ongoing in the locaIity ,and creating chaos, for months until march but now starting again.

[Superzob]

You would have to speak to National Grid (NG) directly if you wanted the work postponed, because they are unlikely to want to connect your old metal pipe to a new plastic one for safety reasons. They would also need access to your meter at some stage to replace the service pipe. They may not need to go any further into the house unless they propose checking for leaks; you may have an argument there for keeping them out because that pipe work and equipment belongs to you.

Our washing machine repairman came into the house when my wife was shielding, but he was wearing a mask and gloves; that would be a reasonable precaution to insist on if NG need access.

Hope that helps. Worrying times, I know, but think of it this way: would you refuse access to a health professional wearing a mask and gloves? Same risk and, in the case of the workmen, you could probably stay 2m away from them

[ssafa]

We had our pipes renewed last year along with the whole street. They didn't need access other than to check the cooker was ok.

[fkhf]

We had this done last year. If your meter is outside they should only need access to that. If it's inside they will probably need to come in. Once they had dug a hole in the ground next to the house it was all very quick. They might want to check that your gas appliances (cooker, boiler etc) still work afterwards. Our people were very pleasant and helpful.