What Kind of Commercial Gas Work Is Common in Bristol?
The answer depends on which side of the city you are on.
To the north west, Avonmouth and Severnside form one of the biggest industrial and distribution areas in the South West. Sites are spread out, buildings are large and gas often travels a long way from the meter.
To the north, Filton and Patchway are dominated by aerospace and advanced engineering, with business parks such as Aztec West alongside.
In the centre and inner suburbs, the work is mostly hospitality and mixed use. Harbourside, Wapping Wharf, Stokes Croft, Gloucester Road and Clifton have a dense independent food scene.
The Commercial Gas Services We Offer
These are the services Bristol businesses ask us for most often.
Commercial Gas Pipework Installation
Above ground in steel and copper, below ground in polyethylene. See commercial gas installation.
Tightness Testing and Purging
A strength test on new pipework, a tightness test, then a purge vented safely outdoors and checked with a gas detector. Nitrogen purging is used where the volume is large. See gas testing and gas purging.
Commissioning and Records
Working pressure checks, proving of safety controls, and records issued promptly for the building handover file.
Catering Gas for Kitchens
Pipework, interlocks and appliance connections to BS 6173. See commercial catering.
Heating for Sheds and Warehouses
Radiant tube and warm air heating with high level pipework, commissioned ahead of winter. See commercial heating systems.
Certificates and Decommissioning
Annual gas safety inspections, and purging and capping of old installations. Redevelopment around Temple Quarter and Bedminster means older buildings are being emptied, and this should happen before the strip out begins.
Underground Pipework on Large Sites
On spread out sites, the practical way to supply a detached building is often a buried polyethylene (PE) pipe. PE is used below ground only. It is laid at the correct depth, surrounded with suitable fill and marked with warning tape, and it changes to steel before it rises above ground.
Before any digging, existing buried services have to be located. The pipe is then tested before the trench is fully backfilled, so any fault can be found while the joints are still visible. Our underground gas pipework page covers this in more detail.
If a route would cross an adopted road or footway, the highway authority has to agree before work starts, so we check the boundary early.
Businesses and Sites We Work With
Restaurants, Cafes and Bars
Shipping container units, cellar kitchens and converted shopfronts. Where a unit is too small for the planned appliances, it is better to find out at design stage.
Port, Industrial and Distribution
Food processors, energy plants and large warehouses at Avonmouth, Severnside and Emersons Green.
Aerospace and Engineering
Process heating, test facilities and large plant rooms around Filton, Patchway and Aztec West.
Trade Counters and Workshops
Bakeries, workshops and light manufacturing at St Philip's Marsh, Brislington and Fishponds.
Universities, Hospitals and Schools
Central plant and kitchens, with work phased to keep heating and hot water on.
Reasons to Choose Our Engineers
We concentrate on commercial gas pipework, so we are comfortable with long buried runs, large plant rooms and awkward kitchens alike. We are Gas Safe registered, number 568617, and available seven days a week.
We can look at drawings before you commit to a unit or a layout, which often saves an expensive change later. We work with business owners, contractors, facilities managers and property operators across Bristol.
Emergency Commercial Gas Repairs in Bristol
In a gas emergency, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. If it is safe to do so, turn the gas off at the emergency control valve and ventilate the area. Once the supply is safe, the repair is down to a commercial gas engineer.
Our emergency team is available at all hours. We trace and repair the fault, then test and purge before gas is restored.
Gas Safety, Compliance and Who to Contact Locally
Tightness testing and purging follow IGEM/UP/1 for larger installations and IGEM/UP/1A for smaller ones. Commercial kitchens need enough ventilation for the appliances and an interlock so the gas shuts off if the extraction stops.
Wales & West Utilities runs the gas distribution network and owns the pipework up to the emergency control valve. New connections, upgrades and disconnections are requested through the network or your supplier.
If a buried route would cross an adopted road or footway, the highway authority must agree first. Within the city that is Bristol City Council. Filton, Patchway, Aztec West and much of Severnside fall under South Gloucestershire Council, and Portishead and Clevedon under North Somerset Council.
The Clean Air Zone in the central area does not affect how gas work is done, but it is worth knowing about when planning deliveries.
Postcodes and Places We Cover
We cover the whole BS postcode area. In the city that includes the centre (BS1), St Philip's (BS2), Bedminster (BS3), Brislington (BS4), Southmead (BS10), Avonmouth (BS11) and Fishponds (BS16). To the north it includes Bradley Stoke and Aztec West (BS32) and Filton and Patchway (BS34).
Further out we cover Portishead (BS20), Clevedon (BS21), Weston-super-Mare (BS22 to BS24), Keynsham (BS31), Thornbury (BS35) and Yate (BS37), along with Bath and the BA postcodes. As a UK wide company we also take on work across the rest of the South West and South Wales.
How Do I Arrange a Commercial Gas Engineer?
Call us on 08000 855 077, or send drawings or a short description of your Bristol site through the enquiry form. We will reply with a free, no obligation quote.
Ready When You Are
If you are planning an installation, a fit out, a site closure or routine gas safety testing in Bristol or nearby, get in touch. We work with business owners, contractors, facilities managers and property operators.