Boiler certificate - how long should it take?

lexilex

We're FTB and had an offer accepted on a house in November.

Our solicitors have been ready to exchange for weeks now. We've got our contracts ready to sign. The only thing that's stopping us is a boiler certificate required for the house our seller is buying. We've been waiting for this boiler certificate for 2-3 weeks now and it's getting frustrating to say the least.

Clearly as FTB's we're not experts, but isn't this something that is pretty instant? A few people have told us now that it shouldn't have taken this long and maybe they're using this as an excuse because they're not ready to move.

Our solicitor is chasing their solicitor but not getting very far. They're not returning his calls and they couldn't even tell him how long the chain is.

My OH wants to start hassling the vendors solicitors himself but I'm not sure that's the done thing? If not is there anything else we can be doing?

Thank you.

drdpj

*if* it's been registered with Gas Safe then it takes about 5-10 days. If it hasn't then they may be wrangling over how to get it registered - it could involve someone coming in, removing the boiler and reinstalling it, or they could have tried to get building control in to check it (although as far as I've read they're often not particularly enamoured with checking boiler installations). AFAIK if the buyer is satisfied that the boiler installation is safe (e.g. getting someone in to inspect it and do relevant safety tests) then the quickest and easiest way of getting over the hump is to buy a building regulations indemnity policy and have done with it. That route is impossible though if someone's brought the council's attention to the un-registered installation.

franklee

If it wasn't registered then the gas engineer who installed the boiler can register it now.

You could ring up Gassafe http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/ to ask if it's registered, their helpline phone number is on their website. That way you will know how far things have progressed and where the hold up is. You can ask them how long it takes and if so can you post it.

If it was the property you are buying you should ask the vendor for the engineer's details and check the engineer is gas safe registered. You could also phone the engineer to enquire directly when the boiler was registered. But given it's elsewhere in the chain that won't matter to you.

Debt_Free_Chick

Certificate of what, exactly? Is it a newly installed boiler? Or is the reference to some kind of annual safety check or service?

Is it a gas boiler? Or oil-fired ... or other ...?

franklee

Good point. My answer was assuming a new gas boiler, led by the first answer. But of course it may not be that :T

mavisangelica

If it is the Building Regs Compliance Cert then our has just arrived today after ringing Gas Safe last Wednesday (so 5 days including the weekend). They did say that it could take up to 10 days.

However, we did get in touch with our Gas Engineer first as we didn't recall getting a cert in the first place (new boiler installed 2 years ago). He stalled for over a week until I eventually rang Gas Safe direct. That could be what is happening with your vendor.

lexilex

franklee wrote: »

If it wasn't registered then the gas engineer who installed the boiler can register it now.

You could ring up Gassafe http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/ to ask if it's registered, their helpline phone number is on their website. That way you will know how far things have progressed and where the hold up is. You can ask them how long it takes and if so can you post it.

If it was the property you are buying you should ask the vendor for the engineer's details and check the engineer is gas safe registered. You could also phone the engineer to enquire directly when the boiler was registered. But given it's elsewhere in the chain that won't matter to you.

Unfortunately it's the property our seller is buying, and we don't have any details so cannot check up on it.

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Certificate of what, exactly? Is it a newly installed boiler? Or is the reference to some kind of annual safety check or service?

Is it a gas boiler? Or oil-fired ... or other ...?

We've not been given any information other than we're waiting on a 'boiler certificate'.

Contacted our solicitor today, heard nothing. He's usually very quick to respond so I am guessing he isn't at the office today. Contacted the estate agent, who were of no help whatsoever. We've even emailed the sellers solicitors now because we can't think of what else we can do. We've just got a bad feeling this is just a cover-up for something else.

giraffe69

I'm trying to work out why a certificate is actually needed. Good to have evidence of a boiler being serviced and a note of this might be found on the fixtures and fittings form but I wasn't aware you needed a certificate for a sale.

isofa

I didn't know certs were required either, I thought it was always up to the buyer to get the appliance tested asap when moving in, certainly how it's been with all our moves up to now. As giraffe69 says we keep the service invoice and show that to the buyer. Only major changes need building regs certs, and (as far as I know) these should have been properly filed with the records on the planning portal so you can see when something was carried out to a house properly.

Owain_Moneysaver

lexilex wrote: »

Our solicitors have been ready to exchange for weeks now. We've got our contracts ready to sign. The only thing that's stopping us is a boiler certificate required for the house our seller is buying.

Why is this anything to do with you?

If the seller is not progressing the sale as quickly as you'd like instruct your solicitor to advise the seller's solicitor that they either speed up or you'll be looking at other properties.

benjus

AFAIK the requirement to have new boiler installations certified started on April 1st 2005. If the boiler is older than this it would not seem unreasonable to ask for a safety inspection to be done, although as mentioned previously it's not a legal requirement.