Gas problems

biggsy137

No, I definitely am in the right place and do not need a doctor...

My dilemma is very simple - Thursday night; smelt gas; called emergency number; man comes; finds leak; turns off gas; all is safe and most conveniently, no one is hurt! (It was only a small leak so no major threat to life )

Now this was all well and good except, our cooker is gas, and our hot water is gas - we have no heating... ergo, we have no hot water and only a microwave to cook with.

We are currently in the process of finding an engineer to fix the problem (and install a new boiler :j )

Unfortunately, we are having trouble finding someone that will actually come/is able to come on the weekend (fully understandable to me!) So as we are unable to 'cook' and have no hot water (we are all starting to smell and the dishes are piling up) is the Landlord under any obligation to provide us with some other for of hot water/cooking or a deduction in the months rent to cover sourcing other methods of hot water and food...or are we just up said creak until its fixed.

Obviously I do know of microwave meals and boiling the kettle for hot water - but thats a hell of a lot of 'lecy and time wasting.

any advice (Other than man up please) that people can offer is great-fully recieved

Cheers!!

Wee_Willy_Harris

I don't quite understand why it is YOU trying to find an engineer to effect rectification and not the LL?

Your LL has a duty to ensure that repairs/replacement/alternatives for such issues are provided within a "reasonable" time. Your definition of reasonable may differ from your LLs, which may differ again from that of a court (the ultimate arbiter). However, as you have struggled to secure the services of an engineer, it would be fair to say that the LL would have the same struggle. Strictly speaking, if there are children in the house, the timescales for heating/hot water provision are pretty tight and an alternative should be provided quickly. What that alternative may be for hot water (other than a bigger kettle) I don't know, but heating SHOULD be provided. This could be a portable heater such as an electric, oil filled radiator. Of course, that may not be reasonably practicable now until Monday. I'm afraid there is little chance of a simple legal remedy for the additional running costs over such a short period so I would suggest this is discussed with your LL direct.

HappyMJ

It's normally next business day reponse times. So you had the issue on Thursday night notified the landlord or agent Friday who then should have rang around for a gas engineer on that same day Friday then they have until the next business day to organize a repair so that's Monday. A couple of days using electric for heating/cooking and water will not cost a lot extra. It would have been the same if you were an owner. Ring an engineer they'll try and do it same day or usually next day unless you choose to pay extra for a weekend which the landlord doesn't have to pay. If you don't have a working boiler (if the gas leak is in that) they can disconnect it from the gas supply so you have gas to cook with. It'll still take a week to install a new boiler so I'd opt for the repair if I were you.

biggsy137

We are finding the guy 'cos the LL is useless and basically said 'you sort it, I'll pay...' that and if we do it, it will actually get done. We have been waiting for months/years for some repairs/maintenance but that's another story (there's a thread here for that somewhere too...)

There is no heating in the house full stop - again, another issue which is kind of in hand.

Didn't think there was much else that could be done, especially on a weekend but thought I'd ask just to see. Thanks for the responses! We should be having someone here on Monday if not sooner so will just have to wait out.

Cheers!

G_M

biggsy137 wrote: »

We are finding the guy 'cos the LL is useless and basically said 'you sort it, I'll pay...' that and if we do it, it will actually get done. ..... Get this in writing!!!

There is no heating in the house full stop - again, another issue which is kind of in hand. This time of year not such an issue, which affects 'reasonable' timescale

Didn't think there was much else that could be done, especially on a weekend but thought I'd ask just to see. Thanks for the responses! We should be having someone here on Monday That's pretty quick. if not sooner so will just have to wait out.

Cheers!

It's normally next business day reponse times. So you had the issue on Thursday night notified the landlord or agent Friday who then should have rang around for a gas engineer on that same day Friday then they have until the next business day to organize a repair so that's Monday.

Total rubbish. Where on earth do you get this from? There is no precise legal definition of a 'reasonable' timeframe, but it's rare to find a plumber/engineer able to come out next day.

I take it you have a combi boiler (instant hot water)? If not, is there an emmersion (electric) heater in the water tank to provide back-up hot water?

HappyMJ

G_M wrote: »

Total rubbish. Where on earth do you get this from? There is no precise legal definition of a 'reasonable' timeframe, but it's rare to find a plumber/engineer able to come out next day.

I take it you have a combi boiler (instant hot water)? If not, is there an emmersion (electric) heater in the water tank to provide back-up hot water?

From the gas engineer himself. They may not be able to come out next day in the cold weather months of Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan but it is April they aren't as busy right now. It may not be fixed next day but it should at least be looked at.

silvercar

Are there two leaks?

Every gas appliance must be capable of being shut off individually, so I don't see why both have been shut down. If the leak is to the boiler, why isn't the cooker working?

biggsy137

It is indeed a water heater so no emmersion heater - if we had such a thing I'd be on it like a tramp on chips!

We have a couple people lined up to come over the weekend now to price it and see how it goes. Off to the local pool in a bit for a shower and getting creative with a slow cooker i acquired from freecycle! "Work with what you've got and still do a relatively good job"

As for where the leak was, each room used to have a gas fire, when these were removed they just capped the pipes off and left them running all over the house but are under the floors and in the ceilings. The leak was from one of these - under the floor though and not from the actual cap... as there is only one pipe coming out of the meter and this goes off into the ceiling within about 6 inches all that could be done at 0200 was shut off the isolator where it comes into the meter...

G_M

Originally Posted by G_M
Total rubbish. Where on earth do you get this from? There is no precise legal definition of a 'reasonable' timeframe, but it's rare to find a plumber/engineer able to come out next day.

I take it you have a combi boiler (instant hot water)? If not, is there an emmersion (electric) heater in the water tank to provide back-up hot water?

HappyMJ wrote: »

From the gas engineer himself. They may not be able to come out next day in the cold weather months of Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan but it is April they aren't as busy right now. It may not be fixed next day but it should at least be looked at.

Ah! So clearly an expert on landlord/Tenant law and tenant rights!

Sorry. He's right that engineers tend to be less busy/easier to call out in April, and yes, that affects the legal definition of 'reasonable' timeframe, but it is NOT true that " It may not be fixed next day but it should at least be looked at".

The landlord's obligation (clearly being ignored in this case) is to make all reasonable efforts to get the problem both looked at and fixed in a reasonable timeframe. That's all.

biggsy137

G_M wrote: »

The landlord's obligation (clearly being ignored in this case) is to make all reasonable efforts to get the problem both looked at and fixed in a reasonable timeframe. That's all.

I thought that would be the case but now I know for sure.

Thanks!!

TBH this has been a bit of a blessing in disguise in the fact that at least we get a new boiler and a registered engineer to fit it and test everything!

Cheeky_Monkey

I can see tears before bedtime with this situation :eek:

So if I understand this correctly, basically, a heating engineer is going to do all the work installing a new boiler (including supplying it) for a 'customer' (the OP) who isn't going to be paying for it. Yeah, good luck with that :rotfl: