Do plumbers fix gas leaks, or does Southwest Gas?

Where the leak is decides who fixes it. Southwest Gas explains the split in its customer buried piping brochure: the pipes "leading up to and including your meter are owned and rigorously maintained by Southwest Gas," while the owner, not the utility, owns "the natural gas piping on your property that runs from the meter to the structure and other outside gas appliances."

Southwest Gas's safety page says the same thing in one line: "Make sure that licensed plumbers install and repair natural gas equipment and appliances." The brochure adds that "If a leak is found, a licensed plumber can assist in repairing your customer buried piping." And its Arizona tariff says that, except as its rules provide, "the Utility has no duty to inspect, maintain, or repair the customer's premises."

### What if the meter is far from the house?

A meter out by the property line means a long buried line that is yours to maintain. Southwest Gas gives owners two paths in its brochure. One is to have a leak detection company or licensed plumber locate and inspect that line. The other is to "Have the natural gas meter relocated, at your expense, so that it's adjacent to your home or business," which the utility says "will greatly reduce, or even eliminate, the pipe for which you're responsible." For relocation questions, the brochure lists Southwest Gas at 800-654-2765.

Call 911 and Southwest Gas first, from outside. Southwest Gas's Arizona tariff tells customers to "immediately call 911 and the Utility upon the discovery of any gas leaks or other hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions." The emergency number is 877-860-6020.

Before you call, get out safely:

1. 1Leave the building and tell others to leave. Leave doors open behind you.
2. 2Do not switch anything on or off: lights, thermostats, appliance controls, or the garage door opener.
3. 3No flames and no engines. Do not light a match or start a car in the garage.
4. 4Call from a safe distance, then wait for Southwest Gas.

Smell is not the only sign. Southwest Gas also lists a hissing or roaring sound, dirt or water blowing into the air, unexplained dead or dying grass, and standing water that keeps bubbling. Any of those gets the same response. A plumber is not the first call for an active leak. A plumber is the call once Southwest Gas has checked the area, found where the leak is, and shut off gas if needed.

Southwest Gas finds and stops the hazard, then tells you what has to be fixed. Its tariff says that if "any unsafe or hazardous condition is found to exist on the customer's premises," service "may be disconnected without notice," and the utility "will attempt to notify the customer or occupant immediately of the reasons for the discontinuance and the corrective action to be taken by the customer before service can be restored."

In practice, that means the technician may:

• Fix its own equipment if the leak is on the utility's side, like the meter.
• Shut off gas to the affected appliance when the problem is limited to it.
• Lock the meter if the leak is on your piping, so no gas flows until it is fixed.

Once the meter is locked, only Southwest Gas turns it back on. The tariff says only its "duly authorized employees or agents" can "turn on the Utility's supply of gas."

Gas piping is plumbing work, and heating contractors handle gas appliances too. Federal pipeline rules require gas utilities that do not maintain customer buried piping to tell customers who can help, and the required notice says "plumbing contractors, and heating contractors can assist in locating, inspecting, and repairing the customer's buried piping." Southwest Gas's brochure points owners to "a leak detection company or licensed plumber for assistance in locating and inspecting customer buried piping."

A simple way to sort it:

• Leak in a pipe, fitting, valve, or connector: a plumber licensed for gas work.
• Leak inside a furnace's burner or gas valve: an HVAC or heating contractor, or a plumber who services that appliance.
• Leak at a gas water heater's connector or shutoff valve: a plumber, since those are part of the gas piping.

Our guide to gas line permits and who can install them in Arizona covers the licensing side.

The plumber repairs it, tests it, and gets it signed off before the gas comes back on. In Phoenix, a meter locked by Southwest Gas for a leak on the customer side needs a city permit, a city inspection, and a city gas clearance, according to the table the City of Phoenix, Southwest Gas, and the Arizona Corporation Commission published. So does a repair where the gas was shut off at the building.

The sequence runs like this:

1. 1Locate the leak with a gas detector or leak detection fluid, as the fuel gas code allows.
2. 2Repair or replace the bad section, fitting, or connector.
3. 3Pressure test the piping. The code treats any drop on the gauge as a leak unless another cause is clear.
4. 4City inspection and gas clearance, when a permit is required.
5. 5Southwest Gas turns the gas on and runs its own leak check. Its tariff says service is denied if uncontrolled leakage exists at turn-on. It can also refuse service until a licensed plumber or a public official issues a certificate for the system, which is where a written test result earns its keep.

Our page on how to detect a gas leak and what repair involves walks through the repair itself.

HQ Plumbing & Air repairs gas leaks on the customer side of the meter across the Phoenix area, with gas leak inspection and testing and 24/7 emergency service. We're licensed and insured.

Southwest Gas makes it safe. A plumber makes it right.