Rented house - broken boiler

rpc

C_Mababejive wrote: »

AT RISK does not mean you can use it. It is an offence under the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regs to use an appliance you know or suspect to be dangerous.

There are two grades and I do not recall the proper terms. There are advisory warnings that do not prohibit use of the appliance - this is often when regulations have changed and it is not compliant with the most recent version.

Then there are "danger" warnings that are properly serious and mean there is a genuine fault. This can also apply when regulations have changed, but the old way is so out of date that it is now considerd dangerous.

Op implies that they fall into the first category, but the CO detectors going off indicates the second.

edit: cross post where you put a good link. It does sound as though it was declared AR, but OP's description strongly suggests ID.

fallenwiccan

rpc wrote: »

There are two grades and I do not recall the proper terms. There are advisory warnings that do not prohibit use of the appliance - this is often when regulations have changed and it is not compliant with the most recent version.

Then there are "danger" warnings that are properly serious and mean there is a genuine fault. This can also apply when regulations have changed, but the old way is so out of date that it is now considerd dangerous.

Op implies that they fall into the first category, but the CO detectors going off indicates the second.

edit: cross post where you put a good link. It does sound as though it was declared AR, but OP's description strongly suggests ID.

Yeah I got the first on my boiler as regulations had changed and was told to install a CO meter (which is now in place in the bedroom the flue passes through) and a viewing hatch to the boxed are the flue passes through to exit the flat. The British Gas engineer doing my service turned the boiler off at the switch but informed us we could switch it on again ourselves when he left and he only put a tag on it (which we have left in place) not red tape.

We haven't done the viewing hatch yet as I hadn't gained clarification from our maintenance company as to if we had permission, they would not do the work as it was a regulation change after the flats were finished. Thanks for the reminder, it is now back on my todo list.

Allenkatie

Thank you for all the replies! To fill in the gaps:
Problem was originally to British gas emergency line who sent out a Wales and west gas safe engineer on 6/10 who disconnected the boiler completely as our kitchen and utility room had more than the 10 ppm co allowed.
A second broatosh gas engineer then came 9/10 who could only find 9ppm co in our utility and kitchen, hence why it was reconnected as this is just legal. He found the source to be the outside flue was too close to our utility room (which is basically a tongue and groove lean to!) which has gaps around the door frame and roof joists, allowing the gases to come into our house. The wondow between the kitchen and utility is also broken so does not close, allowing the gases into our main house. This engineer suggested having it registers at risk as depending on the "wind direction" more of the gas may enter, and this is what we find. Nice days no problem, windy stormy days alarms galore!
Since then I have seen one builder, two more gas safe engineers all deciding the best course of action, to which the landlord has fondly agreed a plan to fix it tomorrow.
I have copies of the last yearly boiler test which does not mention any problems.
Thanks again

C_Mababejive

I would just add further that gas appliances when operating normally,do not produce appreciable amounts of CO. They only produce large amounts of CO2 and H2O

husheechee

Here is a similar problem but viewed from a landlords position,My tennant reported last jan that the boiler was making a "rumbling" noise when the CH or water on demand kicked in,I called in the gas safe engineer who couldnt find anything wrong and deemed the boiler as safe to use.The tennant was advised that if there was further problems with the boiler to contact the agent to report any problems,forward to june this year when an inspection on the property was carried out and again no mention of any problems,forward to this week when the GSC was carried out and again no mention of any problems(same engineer as before).Today i get a call from the agent and....the boiler is suddenly making this rumbling noise again and this seems to happen everytime that either hot water or the central heating is "in demand" as before.Now my question is this...the tennant has obviously been using the boiler over the last nine months and has not reported any issues(the first time she mentioned this noise was to the engineer doing the GSC THIS WEEK)though according to the engineer this seems highly unlikely that this noise has NOT happened in the previous 9 months.Now the big question is this...seems like she has been using the boiler with this rumbling noise constantly occuring and this is now likely to set me back quite a few hundred pounds to get it fixed!Isnt she somehow partly responsible for not reporting this issue before now as clearly explained in the tennancy agreement and is liable for if not all of the damage to the boiler that has occured to at least some of the cost of repair/replacement?..Im really angry with her for not pointing this out sooner AS SHE WAS ASKED TO DO LAST JANUARY.
Any advice would be appreciated.

rpc

She reported the issue.

Was told it wasn't a problem.

Now you want them to cough up because she didn't report the non-problem that she reported?

A boiler is, under law, your responsibility. You would have to prove the T caused the problem to get any claim against them. As the T reported the issue promptly, then was told it wasn't a problem, I don't know what you expect from them? A phone call every time it made the noise that they were told wasn't a problem?

Fire_Fox

husheechee wrote: »

Here is a similar problem but viewed from a landlords position,My tennant reported last jan that the boiler was making a "rumbling" noise when the CH or water on demand kicked in,I called in the gas safe engineer who couldnt find anything wrong and deemed the boiler as safe to use.The tennant was advised that if there was further problems with the boiler to contact the agent to report any problems,forward to june this year when an inspection on the property was carried out and again no mention of any problems,forward to this week when the GSC was carried out and again no mention of any problems(same engineer as before).Today i get a call from the agent and....the boiler is suddenly making this rumbling noise again and this seems to happen everytime that either hot water or the central heating is "in demand" as before.Now my question is this...the tennant has obviously been using the boiler over the last nine months and has not reported any issues(the first time she mentioned this noise was to the engineer doing the GSC THIS WEEK)though according to the engineer this seems highly unlikely that this noise has NOT happened in the previous 9 months.Now the big question is this...seems like she has been using the boiler with this rumbling noise constantly occuring and this is now likely to set me back quite a few hundred pounds to get it fixed!Isnt she somehow partly responsible for not reporting this issue before now as clearly explained in the tennancy agreement and is liable for if not all of the damage to the boiler that has occured to at least some of the cost of repair/replacement?..Im really angry with her for not pointing this out sooner AS SHE WAS ASKED TO DO LAST JANUARY.
Any advice would be appreciated.

What damage has occurred between January when your tenant reported the fault and now? Your Gas Safe engineer twice failed to find anything wrong, maybe you need a better tradesman?

Your tenant has probably not been using the boiler for central heating for at least six of those nine months maybe longer not everyone has had the heating on before the recent very cold snap. If it is a combi boiler you really expect the tenant to hear the rumbling whilst in the shower say? :rotfl: If it's a regular boiler it could be timed to come on whilst the tenant is asleep or out.

tbs624

As rpc says, husheechee.

It would have also been better to have started a new thread of your own rather than hijacking a T's query about a boiler repair and the triggering of CO alarms.

The only thing in common is that each case involves a heating system in a rented property and threads can become confusing for everyone if they have more than one "OP" asking different questions.

husheechee

Thanks,i will try to start a new thread