Sergio Fernandez said:

If there is NO earth clamp on the customer side of gas meter within the permitted length of 600 mm of the outlet union of the meter; and before any branch (tee) in the pipework should the Earth bond be installed by the Gas meter engineer? 

Which bond are you talking about? If it's the one across the meter ... that's safe working practice to stop sparks that might otherwise ignite residual gas when removing the meter, so no-brainer for me, I would do it every time if I were a gas engineer! As to whether it's left in place afterwards, I guess there are pro's and con's

If it's the consumer's main protective bonding, then I think there's a duty for the gas engineer to inform the owner or other responsible person that the bonding is missing, which could still be a  safety problem when the gas meter is removed, so the report should still happen?

Sergio Fernandez said:

The practice of just putting the bond across where the gas meter used to be without proper consideration means that a healthy Ze and Zs could be compromised.

I disagree? Ze should be measured with no extraneous-conductive-parts connected.

Sergio Fernandez said:

There is an Earth Bond of customer side of meter do the Gas meter engineers check with a clamp meter to see if there is mA or Amps.  mA probably being acceptable but Amps not acceptable. 

I would say this ought to be part of the safe working practices under Electricity at Work Regulations - mA can kill, so knowledge of what's going on is important for safety regardless.

I don't suppose gas fitters are thinking of BS7671.  It's not their problem.  It's the safety of themselves and their colleagues that's their concern.

The pipe coming out of the ground is at true earth.  The one going into the house is probably connected to the MET, either by bonding or through an earthed gas appliance.

If they unscrew the meter and remove it, they now have two pipes close to each other that could be at substantially different voltages.  So the safest thing to do is to bond across the two pipes before removing the meter.

Hi Graham

I totally agree using the cross bond for gas meter swap outs but in the post I saw they had removed the gas meter then capped off the supply and left the cross bond in place.  I will try and find the original facebook post showing the picture. 

Hi Simon

I totally agree using the cross bond for gas meter swap outs but in the post I saw they had removed the gas meter then capped off the supply and left the cross bond in place.  I will try and find the original facebook post showing the picture. 

Reg 10 of  The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (legislation.gov.uk) says;

"10.  In any case where it is necessary to prevent danger, no person shall carry out work in relation to a gas fitting without using a suitable bond to maintain electrical continuity until the work is completed and permanent electrical continuity has been restored."

Meter operators carry voltage sticks as part of their kit, i presume they found some voltage on the installation and decided to bond the two pipes permanently.

I use a car jump lead between the ends of pipework as a temporary bond when removing meters or lengths of pipe. I am Gas Safe Registered but don't fit meters

left the cross bond in place.

Makes sense.

a) they wouldn't want to have left the installation where someone could get  a shock between the two pipe ends, where they wouldn't have done if the meter was still in place (assuming no IJ).

b) The gas pipework might have contributed to an adequate Zs - either because it was a very old installation and pre-dated the ban on using gas pipework as an earth conductor (or was just non-conforming at the time), or a latent fault in the intended earthing was accidentally compensated for by the gas bond.

either way, they wouldn't want to risk leaving the installation less safe than how they found it.

There was similar policies when plastic push-fit plumbing fittings first came in - manufacturer's advise was to bond across any new plastic sections inserted into existing metallic pipework, as the plumber couldn't be sure is if formed part of an intended bonding scheme. (e.g. for bathroom bonds made just outside the bathroom).

   - Andy.

In any event, it probably makes no difference, as most gas pipes come out of the ground in MDPE these days (even in originally older installations, as gas supply pipes seem to get replaced every generation or so).

   - Andy.

I am sure it was a metal gas supply pipe and not plastic.

544.1.2

The main protective bonding connection to any extraneous-conductive-part such as gas, water or
other metallic pipework or service shall be made as near as practicable to the point of entry of that part into the
premises.

Where there is a meter, isolation point or union, the connection shall be made to the consumer’s hard metal
pipework and before any branch pipework. Where practicable the connection shall be made within 600 mm of the
meter outlet union

or

at the point of entry to the building if the meter is external.

...

...

Would anyone care to explain why, when the meter is internal, the bonding conductor should be connected to the wrong side of the meter and not the extraneous-conductive-part on the other side?

From “our” regs;