Commercial Gas Services in Milton Keynes

A Planned City With Planned Employment Areas

Milton Keynes was designed from scratch in the late 1960s, and it shows. Employment is grouped into grid squares such as Kiln Farm, Mount Farm, Tongwell, Kingston and Brinklow, each with its own mix of warehouses, factories and offices.

That makes the city easy to work in. Sites have good access, buildings are relatively modern and plant rooms were usually built with space to spare. It also means a lot of gas plant is reaching the same age at the same time.

What Commercial Gas Services Do We Offer in Milton Keynes?

Distribution Sheds and High Level Heating

With the M1 on its doorstep, Milton Keynes has become a major logistics centre. Very large sheds stand at Magna Park, Brinklow, Tilbrook and Snelshall, and many household names run national distribution from here.

Most are heated by gas fired warm air or radiant tube heaters mounted at high level. Pipe runs are long and access needs powered platforms. We install, test and commission these systems, and we inspect them each year. Destratification fans are often added to push warm air back down to the floor. See commercial heating systems.

Ageing Plant in First Generation Buildings

Offices and factories built in the 1970s and 1980s are now on their second or third set of boilers. Each replacement tends to leave something behind: a capped branch, an oversized main feeding a much smaller boiler, or a valve nobody can identify.

When we replace or recommission plant in Milton Keynes, we survey the existing pipework first. Redundant sections are decommissioned properly. They are isolated, purged to a safe point outdoors, capped and labelled. What remains is tightness tested, so the new plant starts life on a system that is known to be sound.

How Is Commercial Gas Pipework Tested?

New pipework has a strength test, which proves the joints and fittings at a pressure above normal working pressure. A tightness test follows. Existing pipework has a tightness test after any alteration, repair or meter change.

For the tightness test, the section is pressurised and left to settle. The pressure is then monitored for a set period. The permitted drop depends on the pipework volume, the gauge and whether the installation is new or existing. The procedure is set out in IGEM/UP/1, with IGEM/UP/1A for smaller low pressure systems.

You receive a signed certificate showing the pressures, times and result.

Gas Purging, Including Nitrogen Purging

Purging replaces the air in tested pipework with gas so appliances can be lit safely. Gas is let in at a controlled rate and vented outdoors, with readings taken at the vent point until the purge is complete.

Small installations are purged directly. The long, large diameter mains found in distribution sheds hold much more, so nitrogen is used first to keep gas and air apart inside the pipe. The same method in reverse clears gas from pipework before it is altered or removed.

You can read more about our full range of commercial gas services, including commercial heating systems and commercial gas certificates, or see the other areas we cover, such as London and Coventry. Commercial Gas Certificate works nationwide.

Commissioning for Contractors and Developers

Milton Keynes is still growing, with new employment land to the east and west. Main contractors and M&E firms need each gas system tested, purged and commissioned before handover.

We can work as the gas specialist within your team. Appliances are set up and checked against the figures given by the manufacturer, safety devices are proved, and the commissioning records are issued for the operation and maintenance manual.

Restaurants, Leisure and Retail in the Centre

The shopping centre, the Hub, the Theatre District, Xscape and the restaurants around the stadium at Denbigh make up a large hospitality sector. We install and test kitchen pipework, fit the extraction interlock required by BS 6173 and carry out annual catering inspections. See commercial catering.

Work is arranged outside trading hours, and landlords receive the certificates they need for their own records.

Older Towns Within the Borough

Bletchley, Wolverton, Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell and Olney are much older than the city around them. Their high streets, pubs, workshops and former railway buildings have older pipework, tighter access and, in places, listed status. We survey before quoting and plan pipe routes to suit the building.

Who Should You Contact About Supplies and Street Works?

The gas distribution network owns the service pipe up to the emergency control valve, and your supplier or a meter asset manager owns the meter. New supplies, upgrades and disconnections are arranged with them. We work on everything downstream of the meter, and we can help you find out which network serves your postcode.

Milton Keynes City Council is the highway authority. Any excavation in a public road, footway or redway needs a street works permit from the council. Before digging on private land, existing services should be located and marked.

Which Surrounding Towns Do You Cover?

We cover Milton Keynes and the wider MK postcode area, including Bletchley, Wolverton, Newport Pagnell, Olney, Buckingham, Cranfield and Bedford.

We also work in Northampton, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, Aylesbury and Towcester, and across the rest of the UK.

Emergency Call Outs

If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 first. They will make the supply safe. Our emergency gas repairs team covers Milton Keynes 24/7 for the repair that follows. We find and fix the leak, test the pipework and purge the system before relighting appliances.