Gas Safe Inpection for new boiler

t45

Hello,
Had a boiler upgrade installed this summer from old gravity fed system to combi boiler (Worcestre Bosch compact). Had boiler relocated to loft. Installer said it could be done and would meet requirements. Now had GS inspection (really brilliant guy) who checked everything but said that the were concerns about the boiler as follows:

• Clearance between boiler was not sufficient in line with manufacturers guidelines
• The pressure relief pipe terminated into plastic waster pipe (needs to be metallic or into an alternative material specified by pipe or boiler manufacturer
• Condensate discharge pipe terminates on tiled roof which does not meet requirements
• Roof space not sufficient
• Pipes not lagged
• Not sufficient distance between horizontal flue terminal and tiled roof

What are my options? The installer said it could be carried out an relocated to loft prior to be contracted.
I can ask him to come back and address these concerns but i think he must as Gas safe have asked him too.
Many thanks,

EssexExile

I'm no gas man so can't help much but I do know that condensate is slightly acidic & if discharged onto concrete will eat away at it. I assume the same would happen with roof tiles.

southcoastrgi

If GS have asked him to come back & rectify the faults why are you wondering what your options are ?

Mr.Generous

roof space not sufficient sounds like it shouldn't be in there - how do you rectify that without moving it? Make the loft bigger? also lack of clearance sounds like roof apex is too close to the boiler, same with flue distance. It sounds like the boiler might be moving again to me...

t45

Thank you all – it is a low height roof area but a couple of installers said it could be done, the first being the current installer, who clearly did not follow Worcester Bosch’s clearance requirements of 200mm below boiler for WB Greenstar and another company that could do it with a Vaillant Ecotech24. I’m not a boiler installer but to me, the current boiler could be elevated slightly to give that extra space beneath without compromising too much of the head height pace to the roof apex.
Was wondering, out of the boilers on the market, which offer the smallest clearances – I am not looking at their performance etc, but from my research the WB Greenstae is 200mm (bottom boiler) as is Gloworm Flexi and a couple of others boilers, Ideal Itsar and Keston also ask for small clearances top and bottom...would be interesting to know.....

t45

The other point that Gas Safe have raised is gassing of pipes....apparently the installer should have covered the pipes....again I'm not an expert but I would expect this to be something that most installers would undertake......Gas Safe were extremely thorough and I am glad I did this as had I not, and let's say I came to have the WB boiler serviced, the engineer may have refused to service it due to clearances.....so at least this will be addressed sooner rather than later...

southcoastrgi

Is your loft boarded from the hatch to the boiler, does it have a fixed light, does it have a fixed loft ladder ? If any or all of these are missing the repair engineer could refuse to repair it

EssexExile

southcoastrgi wrote: »

Is your loft boarded from the hatch to the boiler, does it have a fixed light, does it have a fixed loft ladder ? If any or all of these are missing the repair engineer could refuse to repair it

Be careful, last time I said something like that I got shouted at for being an awkward so & so!

brightontraveller

southcoastrgi wrote: »

Is your loft boarded from the hatch to the boiler, does it have a fixed light, does it have a fixed loft ladder ? If any or all of these are missing the repair engineer could refuse to repair it

You could argue all those and more should be there to fit it in the loft in the first place ? BPEC CEN1 Guidance for loft installation appears to be more of an issue when it comes to servicing by other than original installers (cynics might think as they have not had the cream they don’t want the scraps) and woefully often ignored when installing to start with :rotfl:

macman

The other issue here is that WB will void the warranty should you need to use it, due the the non-compliant install. I assume this is a rental property, otherwise why are you having a safety inspection less than 6m after a new install?

Mr.Generous

reminds me of a bungalow we were doing some jobs in, the guy servicing the boiler had broken part of the ceiling around the light. We fixed it then later when in the loft wiring up a fan my brother damaged the ceiling.

The **** who had installed the boiler had cut the boards right in front of a joist and left it so it looked safe but was like a springboard and bent down and smashed the ceiling when weight was on it.

Had to repair it again and fit a simple timber support under the cut board.