Enbridge gave me 2 infractions while changing my meter

Relax

Relax

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Enbridge sent a tech to replace my gas meter (that I didn't ask for), and he noted my water heater vent wasn't 12" above grade and gave me a B infraction for that. Then he gave me a separate A infraction for the furnace vents for the same reason. But he didn't enter my house or turn off the gas, even though it says he was supposed to. I assume he thought he was doing me a favor. He said I have 42 days to fix the B infraction by either hiring a gas tech to raise the vent, or I can just have my property regraded to be an additional 6" lower directly under the vent. He even started kicking the gravel over to the side to give it more clearance and said "yeah, you only need to dig a few more inches". After he left, I started looking into how I submit a notice to Enbridge to tell them I resolved it, and they sent me the following:

**NOTICE** Enbridge will no longer inspect a self-repair (or unlicensed repair) and/or reintroduce gas to the premise for either a category ‘A’ or a category ‘B’ safety violation.

If the required repair information is not provided by the due date, we will visit your home or business and, as required by law, may shut off the gas supply to the appliance or to your natural gas service.

A non-refundable service charge of $124 along with applicable taxes will be applied to your account.

Well, I'm not going to get a gas guy to regrade my property, so there won't be a gas technician to send in any report that the problem has been resolved. Had I known about the red trext above, I would have grabbed my shovel and started digging while he was there. But as it stands, it sounds like I'll have to pay $125 when they come back in 42 days for the B infraction, and possibly another $125 for them to inspect the A infraction (and then try to turn on the gas to my firnace which was never turned off so either the original tech is getting in trpouble for not doing it, or I'll get blamed for turning it on muyself). And even though I don't need anyone to turn on the gas to the furnace, I assume I don't want that infraction on record as having never been fixed if I were to ever have a gas-related insurance claim, right?

So I'm wondering, is there another option I'm missing that won't cost me anything, or are there any GTAM gas techs in the Mississauga area that would be willing to swing by, confirm the 12" clearance, and submit a "good to go" report to Enbridge for me? Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Pm @mimico_polak for contact. His guy removed a red tag for me, he was very reasonable
 
A few years back I smelled gas outside the house and called Enbridge responded quickly and found the original steel pipe had corroded just above grade. He fixed it by wrapping some tape around it and said a crew would come in a few weeks to replace the line. It was more like a few months. NG is very low pressure I assume.

I understand the grade separation but not attitude. It's well known that governments minimize tax increases by using fines to supplement income. Are companies doing this as a side gig as well?
 
nobbie48 said:
A few years back I smelled gas outside the house and called Enbridge responded quickly and found the original steel pipe had corroded just above grade. He fixed it by wrapping some tape around it and said a crew would come in a few weeks to replace the line. It was more like a few months. NG is very low pressure I assume.

I understand the grade separation but not attitude. It's well known that governments minimize tax increases by using fines to supplement income. Are companies doing this as a side gig as well?
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Residential NG is maximum 10 psi to the meter (and often as low as 1/2 psi) and 1/4 psi after the meter. Very low pressure is an understatement. There's a good reason a lot of techs hot swap appliances by plugging with their thumb as it's easy and avoid issues with gas/air mix in the line interfering with appliance startup.

Just for info, my NG meter is capable of about 340k BTU/hr (9.6 m^3/hr). I suspect the previous owners had it upgraded to a larger size when they installed a pool heater. I don't know how large you can go before they need to start changing piping from the street. For some specific high-draw applications, they will run a dual pressure regulator and send 2 or 5 psi to a local regulator at the appliance. I suspect based on economics of large pipe vs more complicated regulators.
 
Most Enbridge contractors are pirates in my opinion. My father in law’s furnace went out a few years back , Enbridge contractor red tagged it and quoted $6750 to replace it. I got an HVAC buddy to do it for $2,500. Had another friend whose furnace went out on the coldest day of the year about 2 years ago. Enbridge quoted $15,000 for a new furnace and AC which you can finance through them of course. I got it done for her for $6500. Most of their contractors are complete hacks that slam in 3 furnaces a day. If you read the fine print in their financing agreement you are agreeing to letting them put a lien on your house until you pay up which may be a problem when you go to sell your home.Avoid them at all costs.
 
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Same experience this year. We had a furnace under service contract that had a failed exhaust fan. The first tech checked the furnace and ordered the part. Another company was dispatched to repair the furnace, they redtagged it based on the install date of 2005.

The tech offered to call his supervisor to double check, 2 minutes later a salesman knocks on the door trying to sell mom a $7000 furnace.

Thanks to a GTAM rider with good connections, I had the same furnace installed the next day at less than half the price. The tech that installed the furnace inspected the old furnace and said it was old, but still in perfect working order.

I changed it anyway because the the Enbridge salesman scared the **** out of my elderly mother - she didn’t want the house to blown up or her grandchildren to die in their sleep from C0 poisoning.
 
Mad Mike said:
Same experience this year. We had a furnace under service contract that had a failed exhaust fan. The first tech checked the furnace and ordered the part. Another company was dispatched to repair the furnace, they redtagged it based on the install date of 2005.

The tech offered to call his supervisor to double check, 2 minutes later a salesman knocks on the door trying to sell mom a $7000 furnace.

Thanks to a GTAM rider with good connections, I had the same furnace installed the next day at less than half the price. The tech that installed the furnace inspected the old furnace and said it was old, but still in perfect working order.

I changed it anyway because the the Enbridge salesman scared the **** out of my elderly mother - she didn’t want the house to blown up or her grandchildren to die in their sleep from C0 poisoning.
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I didn’t think they could red tag a furnace just based on its age.The service guy was probably getting a kickback.
 
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Bobo said:
I didn’t think they could red tag a furnace just based on its age.The service guy was probably getting a kickback.
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You think?
 
Bobo said:
Most Enbridge contractors are pirates in my opinion. My father in law’s furnace went out a few years back , Enbridge contractor red tagged it and quoted $6750 to replace it. I got an HVAC buddy to do it for $2,500. Had another friend whose furnace went out on the coldest day of the year about 2 years ago. Enbridge quoted $15,000 for a new furnace and AC which you can finance through them of course. I got it done for her for $6500. Most of their contractors are complete hacks that slam in 3 furnaces a day. If you read the fine print in their financing agreement you are agreeing to letting them put a lien on your house until you pay up which may be a problem when you go to sell your home.Avoid them at all costs.
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Enbridge didn't quote you anything. They don't sell, rent or install furnaces. The person writing the red tag can't offer to repair it. It's a conflict of interest.
 
Mad Mike said:
Same experience this year. We had a furnace under service contract that had a failed exhaust fan. The first tech checked the furnace and ordered the part. Another company was dispatched to repair the furnace, they redtagged it based on the install date of 2005.

The tech offered to call his supervisor to double check, 2 minutes later a salesman knocks on the door trying to sell mom a $7000 furnace.

Thanks to a GTAM rider with good connections, I had the same furnace installed the next day at less than half the price. The tech that installed the furnace inspected the old furnace and said it was old, but still in perfect working order.

I changed it anyway because the the Enbridge salesman scared the **** out of my elderly mother - she didn’t want the house to blown up or her grandchildren to die in their sleep from C0 and poisoning.
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It wasn't an Enbridge salesman. If you had a service contract it was probably with Enercare, depending when this happened. It could of been direct energy. Always find your own contractor if you get a red tag. If he determines the tag isn't warranted then you can file a complaint.
 
Relax said:
Enbridge sent a tech to replace my gas meter (that I didn't ask for), and he noted my water heater vent wasn't 12" above grade and gave me a B infraction for that. Then he gave me a separate A infraction for the furnace vents for the same reason. But he didn't enter my house or turn off the gas, even though it says he was supposed to. I assume he thought he was doing me a favor. He said I have 42 days to fix the B infraction by either hiring a gas tech to raise the vent, or I can just have my property regraded to be an additional 6" lower directly under the vent. He even started kicking the gravel over to the side to give it more clearance and said "yeah, you only need to dig a few more inches". After he left, I started looking into how I submit a notice to Enbridge to tell them I resolved it, and they sent me the following:

**NOTICE** Enbridge will no longer inspect a self-repair (or unlicensed repair) and/or reintroduce gas to the premise for either a category ‘A’ or a category ‘B’ safety violation.

If the required repair information is not provided by the due date, we will visit your home or business and, as required by law, may shut off the gas supply to the appliance or to your natural gas service.

A non-refundable service charge of $124 along with applicable taxes will be applied to your account.

Well, I'm not going to get a gas guy to regrade my property, so there won't be a gas technician to send in any report that the problem has been resolved. Had I known about the red trext above, I would have grabbed my shovel and started digging while he was there. But as it stands, it sounds like I'll have to pay $125 when they come back in 42 days for the B infraction, and possibly another $125 for them to inspect the A infraction (and then try to turn on the gas to my firnace which was never turned off so either the original tech is getting in trpouble for not doing it, or I'll get blamed for turning it on muyself). And even though I don't need anyone to turn on the gas to the furnace, I assume I don't want that infraction on record as having never been fixed if I were to ever have a gas-related insurance claim, right?

So I'm wondering, is there another option I'm missing that won't cost me anything, or are there any GTAM gas techs in the Mississauga area that would be willing to swing by, confirm the 12" clearance, and submit a "good to go" report to Enbridge for me? Any help is greatly appreciated!
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If you lower the grade, then fill out the tag and fax it to the number on the tag. They will clear that tag. You don't need a tech to lower the grade.
 
GreyGhost said:
Residential NG is maximum 10 psi to the meter (and often as low as 1/2 psi) and 1/4 psi after the meter. Very low pressure is an understatement. There's a good reason a lot of techs hot swap appliances by plugging with their thumb as it's easy and avoid issues with gas/air mix in the line interfering with appliance startup.

Just for info, my NG meter is capable of about 340k BTU/hr (9.6 m^3/hr). I suspect the previous owners had it upgraded to a larger size when they installed a pool heater. I don't know how large you can go before they need to start changing piping from the street. For some specific high-draw applications, they will run a dual pressure regulator and send 2 or 5 psi to a local regulator at the appliance. I suspect based on economics of large pipe vs more complicated regulators.
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It's not maximum 10 psi before the meter. There's 40 to 64psi, 65 to 175 psi. There's even services over 175 psi. There's no 1/2 psi services. 1/4 psi into the house.
 
The Red tags are written by a contractor. Enbridge makes no money on them. I can't say the same for the contractor writing them.
 
Slim Jim said:
Enbridge didn't quote you anything. They don't sell, rent or install furnaces. The person writing the red tag can't offer to repair it. It's a conflict of interest.
Click to expand...
Slim Jim said:
Enbridge didn't quote you anything. They don't sell, rent or install furnaces. The person writing the red tag can't offer to repair it. It's a conflict of interest.
Click to expand...
I believe it was Enercare or one of their approved contractors that gave my father in law the quote, the salesman showed up at the door an hour after getting red tagged. He was 84 years old and of course he gave them the go ahead without speaking to anyone.
 
Bobo said:
I believe it was Enercare or one of their approved contractors that gave my father in law the quote, the salesman showed up at the door an hour after getting red tagged. He was 84 years old and of course he gave them the go ahead without speaking to anyone.
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In my case it was Enercare and their contractors.
 
Slim Jim said:
It's not maximum 10 psi before the meter. There's 40 to 64psi, 65 to 175 psi. There's even services over 175 psi. There's no 1/2 psi services. 1/4 psi into the house.
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All I know is that my sticky tape temporary repairs stopped the leak. I've tried sticky tape repairs on air lines and they don't work well.
 
Bobo said:
I believe it was Enercare or one of their approved contractors that gave my father in law the quote, the salesman showed up at the door an hour after getting red tagged. He was 84 years old and of course he gave them the go ahead without speaking to anyone.
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A friend is dyslexic and occasionally gets screwed by similar tactics.
 
Slim Jim said:
If you lower the grade, then fill out the tag and fax it to the number on the tag. They will clear that tag. You don't need a tech to lower the grade.
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If by tag, you mean the paper forms he gave me, the bottom says "Correction Report: To be forwarded to Enbridge Gas by gas technician completing work." and has fields for the technician's certificate number, company name/address, and TSSA contractor's registration number. Are you saying I can just fill it out myself and skip the above fields? Not that I would, but then couldn't anyone just fill them out fraudulently?
 
So my original plan was to raise the pipes to bring back the clearance, but it wasn't clear if doing that necessitated changing the black pipe to white to meet current code even if we didn't touch the appliance itself. So then it was back to digging out the grade to bring back the clearance and try to find a gas tech to clear the tag for me. Unfortunately, I contacted a few and was either ignored or told things that made it clear they were trying to get additional unnecessary work out of it - like having to change my black pipes to white to meet the new code when all I did was dig out the dirt. Also minimum charges that were more than double what Enbridge said they would charge to send someone, so I took a chance that they wouldn't have any issues with the regrading job.

Today while I was washing one of my bikes on the driveway, a pickup truck pulls up and the driver says "Nice bike!" and that his wife loves bikes, but he's more of a car guy. Then he sees my M3 on the lift and we get to talking and he tells me he's with Enbridge to look at the B-tag. I show him the vents and he starts shaking his head and said somethiing to the effect that the tech shouldn't have given me the tags and that they were bogus. Then he called a few people and managed to get the charge dropped for himcoming out to clear the B-tag. He couldn't do anything about the A-tag, but said since the other guy never turned the furnace off, there's really nothing to do. He said he though the other guy probably just wanted to get paid for writing the two infractions and then mentioned "fuckery". So I think I'm good now.
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