gas safety vs service check?

cleofish

hi everyone, wondering if you could help.

we are about to move into a house we have just bought.

its quite an old house so we wanted to get the gas checked before fully moving in.

there are 2 gas fires in the property, one a newish one with open flames and fake coal type thing, the other fire is an old baxi style fire.

there is also an old style boiler with water tank upstairs and a gas cooker.

im not sure what to ask for really, i got a couple of quotes this morning, and i was asking for a gas saefty check on the 2 fires and the boilers itself, but some are really cheap and some others come back with different prices for service and safety check.

what is the difference between a safety check and a service on a boiler?

we arent landlords and will be moving into the property ourselves.

the boiler works as in heats water and radiators and the fire and cooker work, but we wanted to make sure that all is ok before moving in properly.

can we get away with just paying for a safety check now just to make sure all is safe to use and then say in 6 months get a service done? will the safety check cover us for that?

sorry for all the questions!

rustyboy21

IMO a safety check, always leads onto pricing for this to be fixed and that to be replaced.

Get a good recommended gas safe engineer in and get the appliances serviced. t least you know that they are working ok and not going to kill you whilst you sleep. safety check is an easy way to get your foot in the door, to sell new appliances. A safety check won't take them apart and clean them out, so they work properly

Mr_Ted

For a safety check you will just get the appliances and installation inspected and a Gas Safety Certificate issued that will also notify you of any defects in respect of compliance to regulations or safety issues, this will not necessarily mean the appliance will be stripped down cleaned or internals inspected!

As you are new to the property I would advise you have a service done, unless you have documents that show they were done within the last year, PARTICULARLY as the appliances are likely to be open flued and the condition if not serviced COULD affect safety.
On a service, although as your not a landlord a certificate is not be required, the items required will still be checked and you will still be informed of any defects or items that are substandard

I wouldnt go for the cheapest, and you will need to check the RGi is Gas Safe registered for all the items to be checked, which will be shown on the back of the engineers registration card, and I would advise checking they are in date and that he is registered on the Gas Safe register which you can access on the net to see!

To avoid a substandard service, which is not uncommon even for registered RGi's, I would recommend you watch and make sure that the appliances are stripped down, cleaned and adjusted to manufacturers recommendations, again if you haven't got the literature you should find it on the net, by searching appliance manufacturers name and model number which should be found on the appliances, if not visible on the fronts, then on a plate somewhere on it, and searching for the installation or user instructions for each appliance!

You should remember that a service will NOT include for any remedial work or parts required, they will cost you extra

There can be items found that may be conflicting, and this can be dependent on the age and experience of the RGi, as newer RGi's do not always consider that some regulations are NOT retrospective, i.e. they were relevant at the time of install but may have been updated but dont actually require the item MUST be updated

The living flame fire and any open flued appliance, thats to say not a room sealed balanced or fan flued, WILL be subject to any deficiencies in respect of ventilation requirements!

Once you have had it done there is always the option of advice on here for any problems and confirmation of what may or may not be essential to have attended to

gas4you

I would also recommend having the boilers and fires serviced. The gas cooker could just have a safety check.

As a guide, to do all the above local to me would cost £130 + VAT

MrCardigan

rustyboy21 wrote: »

IMO a safety check, always leads onto pricing for this to be fixed and that to be replaced.

Get a good recommended gas safe engineer in and get the appliances serviced. t least you know that they are working ok and not going to kill you whilst you sleep. safety check is an easy way to get your foot in the door, to sell new appliances. A safety check won't take them apart and clean them out, so they work properly

I would not sign a safety check off to one of my customers to say it was safe unless it was working properly. If one of my customers wants a safety check, I assume it's because they want to know if it is safe. It is not a way for me to 'get my foot in the door'.

A gas engineer's work is subject to many regulations and requirements, and it is my neck on the line if I said an appliance is safe when it wasn't.

I went to do a safety check on an old boiler yesterday and found it to be leaking CO through a holed flue hood and many other places. I had to condemn the boiler on the spot. The customer then asked if she could pay me cash and I then 'pretend' I hadn't been there and leave it connected. I strongly but politely declined. I then asked her (in the nicest way I could) why she wanted me there in the first place if she was going to just ignore my professional opinion to potentially save her life!!! She got two other RGI's out yesterday who both agreed with my conclusions and then rang up to thank me for my decision.

On a final note, I agree strongly with the other comments that a safety check on it's own is not a valid alternative to regular and thorough servicing.

rustyboy21

MrCardigan wrote: »

I would not sign a safety check off to one of my customers to say it was safe unless it was working properly. If one of my customers wants a safety check, I assume it's because they want to know if it is safe. It is not a way for me to 'get my foot in the door'.

A gas engineer's work is subject to many regulations and requirements, and it is my neck on the line if I said an appliance is safe when it wasn't.

I went to do a safety check on an old boiler yesterday and found it to be leaking CO through a holed flue hood and many other places. I had to condemn the boiler on the spot. The customer then asked if she could pay me cash and I then 'pretend' I hadn't been there and leave it connected. I strongly but politely declined. I then asked her (in the nicest way I could) why she wanted me there in the first place if she was going to just ignore my professional opinion to potentially save her life!!! She got two other RGI's out yesterday who both agreed with my conclusions and then rang up to thank me for my decision.

On a final note, I agree strongly with the other comments that a safety check on it's own is not a valid alternative to regular and thorough servicing.

So, in effect you are agreeing with me, apart from the sales hook on the visit. You checked the boiler over, found a fault so condemned it. The owner now needs to pay for the new parts as well as another callout charge, in order to get it fixed.


If they had , had it serviced, then you would have found the fault, told them about it and if you are like most other RGI's, you would say I can get the part and fix it for you. This would most likely, not have a callout charge applied to it.

A safety check is a safety check. The OP has just moved into a new house. They have no history of what has been done with the boiler in the past. It is far better to service the boiler and check it is safe at the same time, than just checking it over and not cleaning it out, which would mean the owner then has to fork out for a service too.

This is a money saving site, I think guiding someone to do the right thing and getting it serviced straight off, instead of a safety check , then a service is actually saving them money.

A safety check is a sales lead when it comes to BG or the likes. The BG RGI's are paid out on referrals, if the salesman does get a sale

MrCardigan

Hi All, I'm new to this forum, so trying to get to terms with the etiquette here, so please forgive me for any ambiguities.

A safety check is just that, a check. However, any engineer worth his money would have condemned the above boiler that I mentioned, regardless of whether they were doing a safety check or a service.. It was 'Immediately Dangerous' and spilling CO. I did not charge her for the check as in the end I was there about 10 minutes before I found the faults that could not be rectified.

I cannot comment on BG's approach to safety checks, but mine are NOT sales leads. My local reputation always ensures that I get more enquiries and requests for work than I can ever fit in.

I always encourage callers to have a full service in preference to just checking. However, you often get the above situation when someone moves in, and maybe they have a couple of fires, a boiler and a hob. They want to know if they can use them all right there and then, but maybe are planning on refurbishing the kitchen or reception rooms in the next few months. A safety check would check the safe operation of all appliances, their meter installation and their pipework. Servicing them all would cost a lot more, hence this could save them money.

Please understand, I was not suggesting to ignore servicing or suggest safety checks as a viable alternative to servicing. Neither do I use safety checks as a way of getting paid twice. If I had done the safety check on cleofish's boiler and found it needed a service in order to be safe and meet the recommended standards, I would have there and then told them and recommended doing the visit as a service instead.

I agree that this is a money saving site. Please just also remember that gas engineers have a legal responsibility to ensure our customer's safety above all else. Do not save a few pounds at the expense of your safety, which is priceless.

southcoastrgi

welcome to the forum Mr C, you will soon get used to the ways of it, but i've got to say so far i can't disagree with any of your posts, although some on here will disagree, alot of good advice from the likes of KS, rusty, Mr T (if he hasn't been drinking lol), g4y, booty, cy, & alot of the other regs etc etc, you do need a thick skin sometimes but it all adds to the fun

A.Penny.Saved

I cannot comment on the gas safety, safety checks or any of that as it's not my business or expertise.

I would say that don't be in a hurry to replace the "old" boiler unless absolutely necessary because the new "energy efficient" boilers cost a lot and are not that reliable or long lasting and can have many pitfalls. Your old one could still be working, if parts are available, long after the current condensing boilers have been sent to the scrap heap.

Ken68

Surely it is part of the sale that the vendor has this work done and certificate issued.