New house, condemned boiler!

puddy

when i bought this flat 12 years ago, as well as the survey i got a local plumber/gas fitter round to give the boiler a look at and the heating etc. I had no idea that this 'inspection' would be considered valid for only 24 hours, what point is that???

i have just had the surveyor round today, as im selling this flat, he looked in the loft, looked around a bit, i offered to show him the boiler, he wouldnt have assked i dont think if i hadnt have offered.

so the surveyor certainly doesnt investigate these thing, if you get a corgi inspection thats only valid for 24 hours, so where on earth do you get meaningful checks done on your prospective property??

whats the best way of checking out for damp, electrics and gas???

lilac_lady

This happened to my son when he bought a house last year. He paid £400 to get the boiler repaired and got the money back via his solicitor who arranged for the sellers to pay the bill. Maybe he was just fortunate but there didn't seem to be any problems with who should pay for what.

Premier_2

vic_ter wrote: »

...Since posting, I've contacted Corgi whose position is quite interesting. Apparently an inspection is only valid for 24 hours, so even if I had had my own inspection carried out it would've been meaningless. ...

Just like an MOT on a car, a Gas Safety Inspection is only valid (in the sence of being true and accurate) at the point it is carried out - there's nothing to say the appliance won't develop a fault or indeed someone induce a fault that makes the appliance dangerous immediately after the inspection has been completed.

What you would need to have asked to have carried out was an inspection to assess the condition the actual condition of the boiler with a detailed statement detailing any likely faults that may occur in the near future as well as anything that may need attention shortly - again a bit like a car buyer would buy an engineers report (e.g. from the RAC) to assess the condition of a motor vehicle before agreeing to buy it.

If the boiler had then developed a fault shortly thereafter which an engineer should have reasonably foreseen developing, then you would have had some comeback. Likewise, if the boiler had been tampered with to make it unsafe, the engineer could have possibly been a witness for you should you have wished to pursue the former owner.

Robert_Sterling_3

clutton wrote: »

if your solicitor says there is nothing you can do (caveat emptor in all things to do with conveyancing) - why on earth would you think someone on an internet forum would know any better ?

Although I am pretty thick myself ( well thick ) I think that there are many well qualified posters on MSE and in some cases they will know better.