Leeds Commercial Gas Engineers: Installation, Testing and Purging

Commercial Gas Work in a Growing City

Leeds has been building for years. New offices around Wellington Place, apartment and student blocks along Kirkstall Road, and the South Bank regeneration all add plant rooms that need gas pipework installed, tested and commissioned.

At the same time, the older estate needs looking after. The hospitals, the universities, Kirkgate Market and the mills now used as offices all have gas systems that were altered many times over the years. We work on both.

How Does Gas Purging Work?

New or altered pipework is full of air. Before an appliance can be lit, that air has to be replaced with gas in a controlled way. This is purging.

The engineer works out the volume of the pipework, chooses a vent point outdoors, and lets gas in at a steady rate until test readings at the vent show the pipe is full of gas. On larger systems, nitrogen is used as a buffer so that gas and air never meet inside the pipe. This is often called nitrogen purging or indirect purging.

The same method in reverse makes pipework safe before it is cut, altered or removed.

Tightness Testing Comes First

No pipework is purged until it has been proved sound. New installations have a strength test, then a tightness test. Existing systems have a tightness test. The procedure is set out in IGEM/UP/1, with IGEM/UP/1A covering smaller low pressure installations. See gas testing and purging.

On an occupied building we agree a shutdown window first, because every appliance on that section is off for the duration of the test.

If a test fails, we find the leak, repair it and test again. You receive a record of the pressures, durations and results.

What Does Commissioning Involve?

Commissioning brings a finished installation into service. It is more than lighting a boiler.

We check that the pipework has a valid strength and tightness test record. We purge the line, then check the working pressure at the appliance with everything running. Burners are set up to the figures given by the manufacturer, and combustion readings are taken and recorded. Safety devices such as gas solenoid valves, pressure switches and emergency stop buttons are proved, along with ventilation and flues.

The standard for industrial and commercial plant is IGEM/UP/4. At the end you receive a commissioning record for the handover file. Without it, the operation and maintenance manual for the building is incomplete.

Who Needs Commissioning and Handover Records?

Main contractors and M&E firms

New builds need every gas system commissioned and documented before practical completion. We can work as a specialist alongside your own team.

Facilities managers

Boiler replacements and plant upgrades in offices around Park Row, Whitehall Road and Thorpe Park need testing, purging and commissioning with little downtime.

Restaurant and bar operators

New kitchens around Call Lane, Greek Street and Headingley need a tested supply and a working extraction interlock before opening. See commercial catering.

Industrial Sites East and South of the Centre

Most of the heavier industry in Leeds sits in Cross Green, Stourton, Hunslet and the Aire Valley Enterprise Zone: food production, engineering, printing and distribution. Work here includes process pipework, warehouse heating, and buried supplies between buildings. See underground gas pipework and commercial heating systems.

Further out, we cover the trading estates at Seacroft, Morley and Thorp Arch near Wetherby.

You can read more about our full range of commercial gas services, including commercial gas installation and gas testing & gas purging, or see the other areas we cover, such as Bradford and Sheffield. Commercial Gas Certificate works nationwide.

The Gas Network and the Council

Northern Gas Networks owns the gas distribution network in Leeds, and is in fact based in the city. It is responsible for the pipework up to the emergency control valve. New connections, larger supplies and disconnections are arranged with the network or through your gas supplier.

Leeds City Council is the highway authority. Any excavation in a public road or footway needs a street works permit from the council, so buried pipework is normally kept within the site boundary where possible.

Gas Safety Certificates for Landlords and Employers

Once a system is in use, it has to be kept safe. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place that duty on employers and on those in control of premises. An inspection every 12 months is the accepted way to meet it.

We inspect appliances, pipework, flues and ventilation, and issue a gas safety record. Many Leeds landlords also ask tenants for a tightness test certificate at the start and end of a lease, so there is a clear record of the condition of the pipework. See commercial gas certificates.

What About Old Supplies That Are No Longer Needed?

Decommissioning is often forgotten. When a boiler house is replaced with a smaller plant room, or a kitchen is stripped out, the old pipework is sometimes left live.

We isolate the redundant section, purge it to a safe place outdoors, cap it and label it. If the whole supply is no longer needed, the meter and service are removed by the supplier and the network, and we can explain how to arrange that.

Areas We Cover From Leeds

We work across the LS postcode area, including Headingley, Horsforth, Pudsey, Garforth, Rothwell, Otley and Wetherby. We also cover Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Castleford and York.

Our engineers travel throughout Yorkshire and the rest of the UK, so a site outside this list is not a problem.

Repairs and Emergencies

If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Once the supply is safe, our emergency gas repairs team covers Leeds and the rest of West Yorkshire. We trace and repair the fault, then test and purge the system so you can get back to work. We are available seven days a week.