Replacing boiler - will the H&S working at height rules apply?

beaujolais-nouveau

In November 2007, my gas central heating boiler had to be disconnected by British Gas because it was emitting poisonous gas. (By the way, this is a reason for not having your boiler in the bedroom - if mine had been in the bedroom, I wouldn't be writing this now.) It was more than 20 years old, so no one would repair it.

I bought a new combi boiler (Chaffoteaux & Maury) but haven't been able to find anyone (CORGI engineer) to take out the old one and install this one. The British Gas engineer said that he wouldn't do it because he "can't work off of a ladder"; another engineer didn't keep the appointment to look at the job (and never got in touch again); a third engineer looked and said he'd send me a quote but never did. In the end, I gave up and survived the rest of the winter - and the beginning of this winter - on two electric heaters. And the new boiler and its flue are still sitting on the landing.

Fortunately, I have a separate boiler for heating water but not having central heating really sucks, and now that I plan to let the sitting room to a lodger I do have to get this fixed.

I live in a first-floor flat in a Victorian terrace, so whatever bit of the work needed doing from the outside would have to be done on a ladder - but I have a hazy memory that some recent "working at height" legislation means that I might have to organise a scaffolding ladder. At some point, I think I will ask the local council's Building Control to advise, too, because I can't see where that pipe thing will go - the one that combi boilers have that takes condensation to the drain - the drain is a long way from the site of the boiler.

Anyone been in a similar situation - what did you do? And did you have your radiators "blown through" (or whatever the technical term is) at the same time: is that essential?

Canucklehead

Good evening: The OH has been installing and servicing boilers in London for 20+ years and I don't think is he has ever used a scaffold ladder or scaffolding...works off a ladder if required. Condensate waste disposal (all condensing boilers have them) can take several routes..take a look at your boiler's installation manual for details on specifications for flue, condensate waste etc.
'Blowing through' means a powerflush.

Many RGIs won't be interested in installing a boiler purchased by a client (reasons have been discussed, sometimes heatedly, on a number of threads:eek:)

HTH

Canucklehead

beaujolais-nouveau

Thank you.

Canucklehead wrote: »

Many RGIs won't be interested in installing a boiler purchased by a client (reasons have been discussed, sometimes heatedly, on a number of threads:eek:)

I will have a look for those - I think this is why the chap who came and looked at the job didn't ever send me his quote. I got the impression, too, that most gas engineers would rather install a Worcester than a Chaffoteaux & Maury (are Worcesters easier, or something?) but I really wanted a C&M - the water heating boiler is a C&M - and to me it makes sense to continue having the central heating and water heating separate.

EliteHeat

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

At some point, I think I will ask the local council's Building Control to advise, too, because I can't see where that pipe thing will go - the one that combi boilers have that takes condensation to the drain - the drain is a long way from the site of the boiler.

Any RGI will advise you of this, what did the guy who did turn up say about it?

As for 1st floor flat, perfectly normal to work off a ladder - the job wouldn't be economically viable if scaffolding had to go up.

P.S. What do you think put the other guy off? most people would quote unless there was something wrong with the property, boiler, owner etc

beaujolais-nouveau

EliteHeat wrote: »

Any RGI will advise you of this, what did the guy who did turn up say about it?

At the time of his visit to look at the job, I didn't know about this pipe thing that combi boilers have to have (and the old one doesn't) so I didn't ask him.

EliteHeat wrote: »

As for 1st floor flat, perfectly normal to work off a ladder - the job wouldn't be economically viable if scaffolding had to go up.

Thank you, v. helpful.

EliteHeat wrote: »

P.S. What do you think put the other guy off? most people would quote unless there was something wrong with the property, boiler, owner etc

I don't know - he was the husband of a lady who worked at the Plumb Center where I bought the boiler, and I did ring her a couple of times after that to remind him/her about the quote. Perhaps he didn't like me and didn't need the money!

beaujolais-nouveau

Canucklehead wrote: »

Many RGIs won't be interested in installing a boiler purchased by a client (reasons have been discussed, sometimes heatedly, on a number of threads)

Haven't been able to find any of those threads - please could you give me a word to search on or say how long ago they were?

I have just ran a search for CORGI-registered gas engineer within 50 miles to do installation on natural gas central heating, on the trustcorgi site, and got NIL. A year ago, there were a dozen or so.

Pssst

I agree. Its more to do with no one wanting to install an appliance that you have bought than working at heights. I wouldn't choose a Chaffoteux but then again,its bought now.

EliteHeat

Pssst wrote: »

I wouldn't choose a Chaffoteux but then again,its bought now.

I've never met anyone who chose one either. Still, I'm sure they can't be that bad!

hehe

jcorbygas

To the OP - I dont mean to question you, but I find it hard to believe that you cannot find any installers on the www.trustcorgi.com website.
I have just double checked that it is working correctly and came up with our own details in a list of installers so I'm sure it is. What is your postcode??

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

We had a Chaffoteux,it worked fine for a couple of years and we had it on British gas maintenance contract.
When it broke down it took British gas three days and five men to fix it.They all said they did'nt want to have to do the job.In the end I had two men and they took almost 8 hours to get it repaired.
You may be able to change the boiler if it's unopened.Plumbcenter charge a rehandling fee but they will change if unopened.

MX5huggy

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

We had a Chaffoteux,it worked fine for a couple of years and we had it on British gas maintenance contract.
When it broke down it took British gas three days and five men to fix it.They all said they did'nt want to have to do the job.In the end I had two men and they took almost 8 hours to get it repaired.
You may be able to change the boiler if it's unopened.Plumbcenter charge a rehandling fee but they will change if unopened.

But it is 13 months since it was purchased!