MANILA, Philippines – If you use Bonifacio Gas Corp’s (BGC) centralized piped-in gas system, you are now required to have a gas detector.

In a forum with stakeholders about the gas system that supplies Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to Bonifacio Global City on Thursday, June 13, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas disclosed that not all buildings in the area have gas detectors.

He said it is now “an imposition” for all buildings and establishments that connect to the BGC system to have a gas detector. No law requires the installation of this device.

According to Roxas, Bonifacio Global City is the the first to have a piped-in gas system in the country by design.

In addition to required installation of gas sensors with automatic shut off valves which turn off the gas flow once it detects a leak, Roxas said all buildings must perform checks on their gas system.

“This is the first time we will be doing this. It’ll be messy, but that’s okay. We have to start somewhere. We’ll improve as we go along,” he said.

Roxas said there are 12 residential buildings in Global City that used the piped-in system or 2,327 units, as well as 258 restaurants and other establishments.

The mandatory checks and gas detectors is a result of the deadly explosion caused by a gas leak in a unit at Two Serendra on Friday, May 31, a posh enclave in Taguig that killed 3 and injured 4.

In Serendra, a unit owner has to pay P8,900 for one gas detector.

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Self-checked

The checks on the gas systems will be performed by building administrators.

There will be two. The first will check will focus on the end-user module or the point of entry of the pipe and gas into the building from the system, while the second check will be on the building’s gas system which includes the risers, meters, shaft and others.

It will be guided by a checklist that the Taguig local government and the Bureau of Fire Protection will distribute to gas users. A qualified and competent “governance body of the building” will then sign documents that they will submit to verify they have complied with all the requirements, said Roxas.

“The target is in 6 weeks, all check ups will be done. That’s by the end of July,” he said.

Not just any representative from the building will be allowed to sign off the checklist, but an engineer, contractor or someone with knowledge of the system, who will be willing to take the blame in the event of a gas leak.

While there is no law that imposes the installation of gas sensors, Roxas said this can be made mandatory because the fire code allows the government to require any safety devices that may prevent a fire if it sees fit.

He also said buildings that will not comply with the checklist or have flaws in their pipes will not be supplied gas until all defects are fixed.

Among the stakeholders present in the forum were the Serendra Homeowners Association, building owners and administrators, and restaurant owners. Also there were PNP-NCR chief Leonardo Espina, Ayala Land Inc (ALI) President Tony Aquino, head of the Bureau of Fire Protection Carlito Romero, and Joel Lamontanes of the Taguig local government. – Rappler.com