Tenant to service boiler? is this allowed?

1echidna

Pssst wrote: »

I find it bizarre that there is such a hoo haa about gas safety,registration, GSR this that n the other and yet it seems you can have an oil burning appliance and not be required to have it checked/serviced!

As it is a fossil fuel burner,presumably it can just as easily fall into a hazardous condition ?

Granted the fuel may not be as volatile as natural gas but then end result could be similar.

Aside from tenancy agreement,s in law,the landlord would have a duty of care to maintain the home and its equipment in a reasonable condition so as not to create a hazard or danger to the occupier.

The hazards presented by natural gas are orders of magnitude greater than those presented by a low flash point fuel oil for a variety of technical reasons. For example the risk of explosion is nil and poor combustion will give tell tale signs of heavy smoke.

poppysarah

http://www.oftec.co.uk/easy_guides.asp

m_13

We paid for the service of an oil boiler in a previous property. Used less oil afterwards and was less smelly. However, it's not clear who is going to pay if they find a problem?

An OFTEC registered technician will check and service the boiler but also the safety of the oil tank. We had to have work done on ours.

Joe_Bloggs

I think that the hazards of burning fossil fuels in the home are similar regardless of their nature. The main hazard is Carbon Monoxide. This will kill in seconds if the concentrations are high enough. If the concentrations are lower then death just takes longer because the victim is incapacitated. A mild exposure may give the victims flu like symptoms. See the Wikipedia article on Carbon Monoxide Poisioning. If the mixture of air to fuel is off then the production of hazardous by-products is made worse and the efficiency is reduced.

My advice is to get a CO detector and to seek quotes for an inspection of your oil boiler and tank. Perhaps seek the advice of the citizens advice buraeux / relatives /elected representatives if it is suitable to pass back this charge to your landlord.
J_B.

Good Spot poppysarah.

1echidna

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

I think that the hazards of burning fossil fuels in the home are similar regardless of their nature.

Good Spot poppysarah.

I can assure you that the are not. I speak as a professional engineer with many years experience in the oil and gas industry. I was not of course arguing against having the installation checked and serviced, but if you read the reference quoted by poppysarah you will find the consideration are totally different from a gas fired installation.

Joe_Bloggs

@1echidna
Present your viewpoint from your experience. Prove me wrong rather than just say I am. My view is that the combustion process should take place outside of the home to eliminate any potential threat to those inside. There are enough ugly air conditioning units, satellite dishes on the outside of buildings, so why not combustion units.
J_B.

1echidna

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

@1echidna
Present your viewpoint from your experience. Prove me wrong rather than just say I am. My view is that the combustion process should take place outside of the home to eliminate any potential threat to those inside. There are enough ugly air conditioning units, satellite dishes on the outside of buildings, so why not combustion units.
J_B.

I think it is a combination of cost and history that more combustion devices are not placed outside the home. (Putting aside gas cookers which for obvious reasons cannot be). Historically there was no alternative to placing open fires in the only place they would be effective, inside. They were far riskier than a boiler with sparks, chimney fires and carbon monoxide all coming to mind so a boiler was a step forward in terms of safety. A modern balanced flue gas boiler notches up the safety level further because the air is drawn from outside with less chance of backflow of any kind into a room. It does still need to be maintained and checked. I can't argue with you though, to eliminate risk of carbon monoxide poisoning totally boilers would need to be placed outside in a shelter or designed to resist the weather. Vulnerability to frost if the unit is switched off would be a problem, might need antifreeze solution perhaps.

Pssst

I think there is actually a market for a small purpose made boiler housing which could be installed outside perhaps on or adjacent to a property wall. This would ensure the boiler lives outside and doesnt take up space in the home un-necessarily. also it would resolve issues of homes which have restricted flueing options.

ShaShaSha

Flu like symptoms because of CM poisoning is actually very worrying. Going to get a detector as we have a young baby, and baby on the way.

Thanks everyone

theartfullodger

I'm a Scottish Landlord: I've never heard of this & would be very surprised if it were legal (but it may be).

Frankly anyway I think the LL is barking mad... surely he would want to ensure the place was safe (to protect his investment).

As suggested previously contact Shelter or your local CaB & get advice.

Is your property on more than 1 floor?? If so the very strongly worded instruction I have had from Scottish Association of Landlords & LandlordAccreditationScotland is that there MUST be mains-wired, interlinked smoke alarms on each floor (with battery backup) installed by the landlord. And Any LL who didn't put in a CO detector needs his half-brain examining.

Another approach would be to use the PRHP (see
http://www.prhpscotland.gov.uk/prhp/1.html
) - but first write (keep copy)to your LL saying you are concerned over the boiler & plan to invite the PRHP to inspect.. he'll hopefully see sense when he gets this letter.

Part of the PRHP guidance to Landlords
see
http://www.prhpscotland.gov.uk/prhp/files/B53017_PRHP%20landlords.pdf
.
gives some of their responsibilities and these include...

c) the installations in the house for the supply
of water, gas and electricity and for
sanitation, space heating and heating water
are in a reasonable state of repair and in
proper working order,
&
f) the house has satisfactory provision for
detecting fires and for giving warning in the
event of fire or suspected fire.

- so I can't see how he can pretend it's not his job to do these things...

The legislation
is contained within the Housing (Scotland) Act
2006 and The Private Rented Housing Panel
(Applications and Determinations) (Scotland)
Regulations 2007 SSI No 173.

If you want to quote chapter & verse he must (he must, not you, he must) keep the property up to the "Repairing Standard" and Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 states, Section 13...

13 The repairing standard

(1) A house meets the repairing standard if—
(a) the house is wind and water tight and in all other respects reasonably fit for human habitation,
(b) the structure and exterior of the house (including drains, gutters and external pipes) are in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order,
(c) the installations in the house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation, space heating and heating water are in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order,
(d) any fixtures, fittings and appliances provided by the landlord under the tenancy are in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order,
(e) any furnishings provided by the landlord under the tenancy are capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed, and
(f) the house has satisfactory provision for detecting fires and for giving warning in the event of fire or suspected fire.

but note section 14 (which means you must write & tell him...)

14 Landlord’s duty to repair and maintain

(1) The landlord in a tenancy must ensure that the house meets the repairing standard—
(a) at the start of the tenancy, and
(b) at all times during the tenancy.
(2) The duty imposed by subsection (1) includes a duty to make good any damage caused by carrying out any work for the purposes of complying with the duty in that subsection.
(3) The duty imposed by subsection (1)(b) applies only where—
(a) the tenant notifies the landlord, or
(b) the landlord otherwise becomes aware,
that work requires to be carried out for the purposes of complying with it.
(4) The landlord complies with the duty imposed by subsection (1)(b) only if any work which requires to be carried out for the purposes of complying with that duty is completed within a reasonable time of the landlord being notified by the tenant, or otherwise becoming aware, that the work is required.

You say "from his estate" - he sounds like a right old-fashioned feudal laird type.. probably doesn't understand his responsibilities & that it is no longer 1750...

Cheers!

Lodger

PS I assume your tenancy is a Scottish "Short Assured Tenancy" (it should say so at top of the tenancy documents). If not the rules may be different.