Gas work in New York City

There are two different categories of gas work that can be performed in buildings.

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1. Buildings that have one master meter for the whole buildings:

In this case we can relocate the gas line connecting to the existing valve and running it to the new gas range location. The dob will perform a rough inspection and finish inspection after the appliance is connected. The existing valve need to be accessible with an access panel. The plumbing work needs to be filed with an architect at dobnow and a detailed scope needs to be submitted.

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2. Buildings that have individual meters for each apartment.

meters that are located in the apartment. In this case the licensed plumber needs to call coned to come and lock the meter. Then the plumber must remove the existing gas line from the meter to the new gas range location, the dob will perform gas roughing inspection and finish inspection when the gas appliances are installed. After passing finish inspection the dob will issue a gas authorization. The plumber will submit the gas authorization along with some additional documents to coned or national grid and open a case. The utility company will come and inspect the existing conditions and after that they will schedule a day to come and unlock and turn on the meter. Please note that this process can take from 1-3 months from the day that the coned case is opened and the gas authorization is issued by the dob. Also note that if your existing meter is old coned will have to change it to an updated meter. The architect needs to file a plumbing drawing including: gas riser diagram, gas appliances locations, description of gas equipment and a detailed scope of work including gas meter location etc.

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3. Buildings that the meter is located in the cellar or single family homes.

In this case you need to follow the same process as 2a but also make sure that the gas pressure from the gas meter in the cellar to your existing gas valve in the apartment holds. If not the dob will lock your meter and will not let you use your existing gas until the gas leak is found and repaired. In most large buildings is almost impossible to open the walls on each floor to locate the leak so this will result in alternative solutions like electric appliances( induction oven and cooktop ). The problem in this case is that these appliances use 220v/30-50 amps in power and the existing service can be inadequate for electric appliances. In single, two or three family homes this process is way easier and leas complicated because most of the times you can replace the gas lines from the meters to the new locations without a problem.

Some additional notes regarding gas appliances additions: every gas appliance has specific btu that uses in gas power. Your existing meter most likely has a capacity of 250,000 btu except for very old meters. If you add gas appliances that were not there before this may result in using more btu than what your meter can handle. In this case coned will have to replace the meter to a larger one and also may replace the main gas line that comes from the street which may result in delays.

Gas dryers need to be vented out. If you have an apartment in a building this may get complicated. The building architect may bot approve any penetrations to the existing structure but they may approve the replacement of an existing window to run the 4” duct from a transom in top of the window. Note that if the gas dryer is installed towards the back of the building, replacing the window will most likely not be a problem but if you are facing the front of the building and the building is landmark, the window replacement will not get approved.

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