Your Gas Was Shut Off or Red-Tagged: How to Get It Back On

Utility technicians shut off gas when they find something unsafe, and utility service rules give them the right to do it. The usual reasons:

• A leak in the house piping, a connector or an appliance, found on an odor call or a detector reading.
• An appliance that is unsafe to run: a leaking control, a vent that is blocked or disconnected, signs of carbon monoxide, or scorching around a burner.
• Damage to the line, from a dig-in, a storm or a fire.
• A failed pressure test, or a system that has to be tested before gas is restored.
• A move-out, a vacant house or a closed account, which is a different process and handled through customer service.

A red tag is a warning label hung on an appliance or valve. The technician closes the appliance's shutoff and tags it so nobody turns it back on. The rest of the house keeps gas. A tagged water heater with a leaking gas control is a common example.

A locked meter is the whole house. The technician turns the meter valve off and puts a lock or seal on it. That happens when the problem is in the piping, when they cannot isolate it to one appliance, or when nobody can confirm the system is safe.

Either way, read the tag or the paperwork. It usually says what was found. Take a photo of it, and ask the technician to show you where the problem is if they are still there. That detail saves time on the repair.

The utility owns the gas main in the street, the service line to your house and the meter. If the trouble is on any of those, the utility repairs it and turns you back on.

Everything downstream of the meter is the customer's: the house piping, buried lines to a grill or shop, appliance connectors and the appliances themselves. A shutoff for a problem on that side stays in place until a licensed contractor repairs it. The utility does not do that repair, and a handyman should not.

The contractor starts with what the utility found. For a leak, that means locating it with a detector and a soap solution, then repairing or replacing the failed fitting, valve, connector or section of pipe. For a tagged appliance, it means fixing or replacing the part that made it unsafe, or replacing the appliance.

Then the piping is pressure-tested. The fuel gas code minimum is one and a half times the working pressure, never below 3 psi, for at least 10 minutes. Where the repair needs a permit, the building department may inspect it, and Spartanburg County's gas release inspection calls for at least a 10 psi air test. A system that holds is ready for gas. One that drops gets the next leak found.

Once the repair is done and tested, the utility is called to restore service. Procedures differ by utility and by situation. Sometimes the utility technician unlocks the meter, checks for leaks with gas in the line and relights the appliances. Sometimes the utility wants the contractor there, or wants proof of the repair or the inspection first. Ask the utility when you call what it needs from you.

Piedmont's guidance is that where service has been shut off, appliances must be checked by a licensed contractor for safe operation before service is restored. In practice that means each appliance is relit, the burners and pilots are watched, and the venting is checked. A furnace or water heater that was tagged for venting gets its draft checked, not just its flame.

The number is on your gas bill. As a guide to the area:

• Piedmont Natural Gas serves most of Spartanburg County and the Gaffney side of Cherokee County, south of the Broad River. Emergency line 800-752-7504.
• Greer CPW serves a large area west of Spartanburg that includes Duncan, Lyman, Wellford and Reidville, and north toward Landrum. Gas emergencies: call 911, then Greer CPW at (864) 848-5500.