New house with incorrectly installed boiler!!

r50

Hi, I'm new here so apologies if this is something that has come up before!

Basically, we moved in to a new house around a month ago after quite a stressful buy. One of the things that came up was the lack of gas safety certificate, but we agreed we would sort this once we'd moved in. The vendors gave us all the documents for it which included the certificate from when it was installed in 2008, and the signatures of the last service in 2010. I organised for an engineer to come and service the boiler last week, but he took one look at it and told me it was installed wrong and that the pipes were in the wrong place (he did explain it better, but I'm not boiler expert). He wasn't able to do the work knowing there was an issue, as it would become his responsibility and we would then have to pay for any repairs, where as if we reported it, we might be able to get it sorted with paying.

I eventually tracked down the company that installed it, but they've since been taken over by another. We've had a report sent by the engineer to them explaining the issue, but the company are dragging their feet and refusing to accept it as it isn't "detailed enough". The engineer has sent another two reports, but now the company are refusing to accept it as the engineer has said he "thinks" there's an issue. So its basically come down to grammar and wording. We've been told by the engineer that the pressure could cause issues, though as its been working this way for nearly 6 years, chances of something happening are pretty slim. But still, I do have concerns. I know there'll be people that say we should have got the vendors to get a service before we moved, but considering they had it serviced after installation by the same company who put it there and no problem was brought up, I'm actually glad its happened this way, otherwise we might have found this down the line anyway. its worth pointing out that the engineer has been brilliant throughout and I'm actually pleased he's pointed this out rather than going ahead with the work (he wouldn't let me pay him for coming over and still refused payment after he worked over the weekend on the report).

What I'm asking is, are they right? Even though it was installed incorrectly, do they have to do anything? We are considering going to Trading Standards as its not quite 6 years since the installation. As anyone experienced this before? As this is my first house, its all extremely new to me and it hasn't been the smoothest of experiences so far!

C_Mababejive

It would be good if you could be more specific about the faults. They may have been over rated.

pinkteapot

Have you tried getting any other gas engineers in to see what they think of it?

societys_child

The installation is documented and signed off.
A subsequent service is signed off.

. . . and told me it was installed wrong and that the pipes were in the wrong place

:huh:

I'd go with pinkteapots suggestion.

southcoastrgi

sorry to be blunt, but you have tried to tell us what is wrong without having a clue, what does it say is wrong on your engineers report(s) exactly

Stevefromdonny

Does the engineer's report say it 1.isn't to current standards, or that 2.it is unsafe or dangerous? If 1, this is fine, it will work fine for years to come. If 2, then yes you have an issue. My boiler isn't to current standards because I fitted a piece of architrave atop the kitchen units which touches the boiler side. Its safe and works fine but the engineer has to leave a piece of paper stating that it isn't to standards because it slightly hinders the removal of the boiler front. Some engineers are more fussy about this than others though.

Owain_Moneysaver

You have no contract with the firm that installed the boiler.

Any remedy you may have is against the seller of the house and that depends on the exact terms of the contract of sale agreed by your solicitor with the vendor's solicitor. Usually that requires only that the heating be working at the date of entry and explicitly states there is no warranty that the installation is safe or compliant with current standards.

Hominu

If it was unsafe he would have condemned it there and then. So it's safe but not up to current standards. That could mean anything, it could even be a picky engineer.

Get a second opinion and see what they say.

I've had gas engineers tell me my boiler is "Not right", "Not installed correctly", "Obsolete", "Could stop working at any moment". Although I particularly like the last one as it applies to every single boiler installed, I've ignored all of them. It's safe and still works, that's all that matters. I'm not going to spend 2 - 3K on a new boiler when I might be moving in 12 months time, unless it breaks down and can't be repaired.

ollski

Reading between the lines it sounds as if the gas supply is slightly undersized. Most modern boilers will require around 16mb of working gas pressure, if they get that the boiler is working properly and the installation is considered 'not to current standard', if the pressure drops below what the boiler requires as a minimum it is classified 'at risk'. minimum required gas supply pressure should be found in the instructions.