what is going on with British Gas and the condeming of boilers

merley

Thanks Philk. The BG engineer threatened to report any indepedent local we request to assess the boiler and reconnect if he disagrees, and the supervisor is actively discouraging us from an independent assessment. I think this is intimidation. If they are confident about their decision why are they concerned another corgi engineer would disagree ( which I am sure no such engineer worth their salt would do incorrectly since their registration would be on the line.)

Pssst

merley wrote: »

Thanks Philk. The BG engineer threatened to report any indepedent local we request to assess the boiler and reconnect if he disagrees, and the supervisor is actively discouraging us from an independent assessment. I think this is intimidation. If they are confident about their decision why are they concerned another corgi engineer would disagree ( which I am sure no such engineer worth their salt would do incorrectly since their registration would be on the line.)

Pish and tosh. The BG engineer s there by invitation only and has no legal powers. He is giving his professional opinion of the situation as it exisits. If he is saying that the flue outlet is too close to the conservatory then the correct reference docs would be (a) the boiler manufacturers installtion guide and (b) The British Standard doc relating to flues (cant recall the ref no but ive got one). If the sitaution is permissable with reference to these docs then there is apparently no case to answer. If it is in contravention or questionable then the next decision is is it not to standard,At risk or Immediately dangerous. either way,you are perfectly at liberty to have it examined independantly. Make sure you get a good engineer. CORGI registration is not a guarantee of expertise or quality of work.

merley

Thanks Psst. The engineer who serviced it in October said the flue position was an NCS. The Engineer who came in on Sunday for something completely unrelated amd minor immediately homed in on the flue and said there was an ID situation because the weght of the boiler had caused the seal between it and the flue to pull away a bit, a common problem with this type of vaillant over time, but only known to a few engineers. Why did the service engineer pass the boiler, flue and all only a few weeks before? Even if the seal was replaced (unlikely to find the part, he claims), the weight of the boiler would do the same again. That seal has done the job for 20 odd years!! I know I will need to replace the old dear sometime but this business has scam written all over it and just makes me feel cheated.

merley

:T Just an update. Found a local vaillant engineer, corgi registered of course, on the net, who kindly came out to assess the situation. He said there was no fault as that so called GAP has been there since these boilers were manufactured and is no danger. He thoroughly serviced the boiler and cleaned up parts BG has never touched in all the annual servicing. The long and short of it is the boiler is working better than we have ever known it to - the radiators are fantastic and hot water is wonderful! That's the end of BG service contract for me!! They are a waste of time and money!. Thanks to all who responded - gained useful advice which has saved me thousands of pounds.

Pssst

merley wrote: »

:T Just an update. Found a local vaillant engineer, corgi registered of course, on the net, who kindly came out to assess the situation. He said there was no fault as that so called GAP has been there since these boilers were manufactured and is no danger. He thoroughly serviced the boiler and cleaned up parts BG has never touched in all the annual servicing. The long and short of it is the boiler is working better than we have ever known it to - the radiators are fantastic and hot water is wonderful! That's the end of BG service contract for me!! They are a waste of time and money!. Thanks to all who responded - gained useful advice which has saved me thousands of pounds.

Well done. Vaillant have their own service network so if they dont know their own boilers then no-one does.

imelda_2

Please Help!
We have a tennant from hell who was suppose to buy our house and is now renting it, well I say that but she doesn't pay her rent. When we issued notice for her to quit the property, as we now have another buyer, tennant became even worse. A few hours after she got the notice she went to the council complaining about the boiler, which has a safe certificate issued in December. She claims it is faulty amd making her ill, council said they would send someone from "rented standards" round. Next thing we here is that Transco has disconnected the gas. Can they do this?
No one asked for our consent, we had no warning and no report to say what is wrong with the boiler, we now have a woman from the council ringing us asking us to sort this out.
P.s. there is separate hot water from electric tank and heating to the downstairs of the property.
HELP!!!

roddydogs

They will now condem a boiler if its got only a 15m gas connection, as its now got to be 22mm.........totally ludicrous, but thats the rule, by the way Corgi is extinct, its now "GasSafe"

Pssst

imelda wrote: »

Please Help!
We have a tennant from hell who was suppose to buy our house and is now renting it, well I say that but she doesn't pay her rent. When we issued notice for her to quit the property, as we now have another buyer, tennant became even worse. A few hours after she got the notice she went to the council complaining about the boiler, which has a safe certificate issued in December. She claims it is faulty amd making her ill, council said they would send someone from "rented standards" round. Next thing we here is that Transco has disconnected the gas. Can they do this?
No one asked for our consent, we had no warning and no report to say what is wrong with the boiler, we now have a woman from the council ringing us asking us to sort this out.
P.s. there is separate hot water from electric tank and heating to the downstairs of the property.
HELP!!!

Minor clarification-Transco doesnt exist any more.

Now then, if a customer rings the gas emergency service and reports a gas leak/smell of fumes or something which she considers "unsafe", an engineer will visit to assess the situation. Th engineer may take the view that to prevent the possibility of a hazardous situation,the installation should be checked for safe and correct operation. He may then have sealed the supply. Bear in mind that Emergency Serivce Providers do not require that their engineers should hold a full gassafe certification to work on all appliances. Most engineers working for the gas emergency service will have many years of experience in the gas industry but on their registration,they will hold the special classification of "Emergency Service Provider". This means that they will not work on appliances,service or repair them.
So then, if a questionable situation arisies, they will issue some kind of notice advising that the applaince/installtion be checked by an engineer with full appliance certification.

With a troublesome tenant,that would probably be his only option. for him to say that everything is safe and carry on using it would risk embroiling himself and his employer in a dispute which has nothing to do with them.

It is for the fully certificated engineer to give the final tick of approval and continued use of the installation/appliances.

HTH

If this tenant is troublesome then you could leave the supply disconnected. As you say,they already have an immersion heater for water. If there is no other form of heating,you could buy them a new fan heater. It might encourage them to leave. At the moment it seems they are trying to have your arm up your back.

imelda_2

Thank you Pssst

MrM0by

Recently 2 problems developed with my 11 year old boiler:

a) hot water would not come through the tap unless the boiler was switched on,
and b) the switch on the timer/thermostat boiler broke (although can be moved via childs knitting needle!!).

I asked BG to call out, repair it & then I would take up their HOMECARE 200 option for the next 12 months. Unfortunately when they arrived today, whilst they could identify what was wrong, they said that they were not allowed to work on the boiler, as it is declared 'At Risk'. The reason being that it is sited too close to the bathroom sink.
They inferred that I can get it repaired elsewhere, as they told me an approximate cost of the parts (£5 for a diaphragm replacement is one) & said to make sure I "don't let anyone try to rip me off", so endorsing the notion of somebody else repairing it. They didn't turn off the boiler instead they left a yellow/black "At risk - Do not remove this label" notice by the boiler (not attached).
No issue was raised in the surveys etc with the positioning when I bought the house 2 years ago and on Monday I'm due to have photographs taken to put the house on the market. I asked them why it would have passed various servicing since installation 10 years ago (it was a rented home prior to our purchase) and they just said not everyone follows the standard but as they work for BG they have to. Which is fair enough but where do I stand (legally) now?