Been duped by corgi fake

RyansMummy_2

i'm new to posting but been lurking around on different boards for a while.

We had a new condensing boiler and central heating installed in April. The guy we used seemed genuine enough with corgi number and ID, we even checked he was registered on the corgi site.

Anyway, its now August and still no certificate of compliance and installer is non-contactable. Hubby called up the office number for the corgi guy and left a message on the answerphone. We got a phonecall back a few minutes later, and it turns out the guy who installed our boiler and CH is a fraud!:eek:
He has been using this guys details although the REAL corgi guy has apparently changed his corgi number.

My husband has filed a complaint on the corgi site, but I am worried about where this now leaves us. We have paid out for the job and this guy has now disappeared. I have just had my baby too, and we are in no financial state to be forking out another few grand or even the £350 needed for bulding regs to come out.

I was wondering if there was anyone who could give us advice on our situation please. I am finding it hard to think about anything else because of this.

The whole fit seems good enough and the guy knew exactly what he was doing. He tested the pressure, gas flow, water flow, checked the whole system, flushed it etc. However, the bar pressure seems to be dropping and the boiler leaks slightly when CH is on.

What will Corgi do about this? The real Corgi guy said that corgi are obliged to fix any issues and provide a certificate as they have issued this fake with a corgi card.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. TIA. Sorry this is so long.

EliteHeat

Get a real Corgi in to fully decommission and recommission, he or she can then notify and you will receive your certificate.

They will need to physically remove the boiler from the wall, refit the flue, check the gas rates etc etc

Sounds a bit over the top I know, but no installer can notify someone else's work.

Sorry to say, but I doubt if you'll save any money over the BCO coming out.

Nile

Hello RyansMummy

Welcome to the MSE site.:wave:

I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience.

Regards

Nile

RyansMummy_2

How much would I be looking at for someone to decommision and recommision EliteHeat? Am I right in thinking Building regs would charge approx £350?

Thanx

EliteHeat

I would have thought about £350. The problem with getting a BCO around is finding a qualified one able to come out reasonably quickly.

When you say the boiler is leaking on CH, is it actually leaking or do you have a leak on the CH pipe work somewhere?

RyansMummy_2

The leak actually comes out from the boiler. The pipe is the one which goes outside into the drain, which I assume is from the condensation? It only leaks/drips when we put the CH on. I haven't detected any leaks in the CH pipework, altho the bar pressure keeps dropping. We haven't used CH since the really cold weather a few months ago.

The major financial problem we have is that we are in extortionate London!

EliteHeat

RyansMummy wrote: »

The leak actually comes out from the boiler. The pipe is the one which goes outside into the drain, which I assume is from the condensation? It only leaks/drips when we put the CH on. I haven't detected any leaks in the CH pipework, altho the bar pressure keeps dropping. We haven't used CH since the really cold weather a few months ago.

The major financial problem we have is that we are in extortionate London!

The drips are the condensate waste, so that's not problem. The pressure dropping is though. Can you remember how much pressure you were losing in a given period of time?

RyansMummy_2

The pressure has been dropping at approx 0.1bar per 2 days over the last week.
We have been topping it up via the filler loop to bring it over the safe 0.5bar whilst in use. (please tell me this is safe to do so!)

Thanks for advice and help EliteHeat.

EliteHeat

That's a pretty small leak, equating to about .75lbs/inch per day. For a pressurised system such as yours, the leak is likely to be on a radiator connection or a primary boiler connection. It's very difficult to imagine that any soldered fitting would be leaking at such a slow rate under pressure.

Unfortunately it may well be difficult to spot as any water loss may well be evaporating, leaving no evidence. It's worthwhile checking all of the visible connections on the radiators with an adjustable spanner - don't over-tighten anything though or you could cause a much more serious leak.

I wouldn't touch the boiler connections, but it would be a good idea to just feel the connections on the underside of the boiler when it is completely cold and the power has been isolated at the fused spur.

Using your totally clean and dry fingers is by far the best way of locating tiny leaks like this.

RyansMummy_2

I've located the leak now and it seems kinda minor. Its actually leaking ever so slightly on the bolt head of the cold water inlet pipe at the boiler (it caps off the end of the pipe). Would I just tighten this with a spanner?

Canucklehead

Good morning: I can't make any recommendations about repairs to your boiler (my OH, Corgi Guy, is the gas expert in the family) but I did have an idea about the fake CORGI i.e. if you get no joy from CORGI perhaps you could contact the local media and publicise this issue. The Health and Safety Executive, as I posted on another thread, will be introducing a new gas safety regime http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/safetyreview.htm next year and a formal letter to it about your situation might be useful.

Hope you find an acceptable resolution.

Canucklehead