Faulty Radiators / Sale of Goods Act

Yorkie123

Hi,

We've a lot (maybe 20) cast iron radiators which are about 4 years old. They've almost all developed a fault and are leaking at the seals, some showing signs of surface rust.

We purchased and had our plumber fit. The retailer has said we can have them sent back to the manufacturer to be reworked or replaced. It sounds like it's not an unexpected issue and sometimes the cast iron is just not perfect and we might have a bad batch.
The system is clean and well topped up with inhibitor etc. They were installed and moved per the manufacturer instructions. I can see nothing we have done wrong.

That all sounds ok but the expense of getting them all drained and removed and new ones installed is looking very high – possibly as much as £2000. Our house is all carpeted and many of the radiators will need 4 people to move them as they are very heavy. Will need pipes capped so we can still use heating downstairs and we might be without the radiators for a good few weeks – upstairs of the house will have no heating. Then of course the new set will all need fitted.

The retailer won't cover any of this cost. Reading the Sale of Goods Act it sounds like we might be covered in some capacity. I think the issue might be the 4 years that have elapsed since purchase - however, with the manufacturer giving a 10 year guarantee, it would be "reasonable" to expect them to last more than 4 years?

We’ll cave and pay for the work to be done but I’d like to know more on my rights. It feels like I’m going to end up £2000 out of pocket plus a mass of inconvenience because someone else made a faulty batch of radiators.
I’ve gone back to manufacturer (who don’t seem very interested and refer us to the retailer) and the retailer several times – seems like I either take legal action or pay for works myself.

Any help very much appreciated!

wealdroam

Yorkie123 wrote: »

Hi,

We've a lot (maybe 20) cast iron radiators which are about 4 years old. They've almost all developed a fault and are leaking at the seals, some showing signs of surface rust.

We purchased and had our plumber fit. The retailer has said we can have them sent back to the manufacturer to be reworked or replaced. It sounds like it's not an unexpected issue and sometimes the cast iron is just not perfect and we might have a bad batch.
The system is clean and well topped up with inhibitor etc. They were installed and moved per the manufacturer instructions. I can see nothing we have done wrong.

That all sounds ok but the expense of getting them all drained and removed and new ones installed is looking very high – possibly as much as £2000. Our house is all carpeted and many of the radiators will need 4 people to move them as they are very heavy. Will need pipes capped so we can still use heating downstairs and we might be without the radiators for a good few weeks – upstairs of the house will have no heating. Then of course the new set will all need fitted.

The retailer won't cover any of this cost. Reading the Sale of Goods Act it sounds like we might be covered in some capacity. I think the issue might be the 4 years that have elapsed since purchase - however, with the manufacturer giving a 10 year guarantee, it would be "reasonable" to expect them to last more than 4 years?

We’ll cave and pay for the work to be done but I’d like to know more on my rights. It feels like I’m going to end up £2000 out of pocket plus a mass of inconvenience because someone else made a faulty batch of radiators.
I’ve gone back to manufacturer (who don’t seem very interested and refer us to the retailer) and the retailer several times – seems like I either take legal action or pay for works myself.

Any help very much appreciated!

Your rights are with the retailer.

Section 48B of The Sale of Goods Act says (amongst other things):

Repair or replacement of the goods
 
(2) If the buyer requires the seller to repair or replace the goods, the seller must—
(a) repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;
(b) bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage).

The last few words of that quote make it clear that if the seller has acknowledged the fault, then he must cover all costs of providing the remedy.
In your case that includes the cost of removing and refitting the radiators and shipping them to and from wherever they need to go for 'rework'.

Does the system need draining? Aren't there valves at each end of every radiator which makes removal simple? Those valves also probably remove the need to cap pipes to allow the remaining rads can continue to be used.

mattyprice4004

As above - the manufacturer have no liability under SOGA - you need to claim for any expenses from the retailer.

If they don't play ball, then small claims is your only option.