Help! Do I have a leg to stand on for recompense?

CXO

Hi all

I purchased a house earlier this year which was advertised with a log burner as one of the selling points by the estate agent. I had a RICS Homebuyer report carried out (believe this is a level 2 survey) which stated

Chimney stacks
There are two party wall brick built chimneys with lead flashings at the point where the chimneys pass through the roof coverings. The chimneys are in fair condition but there are signs of some thermal cracking to the stacks and general weathering of pointing and vegetation growth and repairs should be carried out.

Fireplaces, Chimney Breasts and Flues - There are no open fireplaces as such. There is a solid fuel appliance fitted to the rear chimney breast in the dining room, whilst the chimney in the living room has a flame effect gas fire which could not be reached at the time of inspection. You need to ensure that the gas fire is checked by a heating engineer before use to ensure it is in safe and satisfactory order.

I’ve since had the log burner (in the dining room) and it’s chimney inspected by a qualified third party who have condemned it’s use and has stated that it is a ‘death-trap DIY job’ and should not be used under any circumstances. He advised that it looks as though the chimney originally had a gas fire installed prior to the wood burner, the gas fire has been removed at some point and a wood burner placed in the recess of the chimney breast. Due to this, the wood burner is protruding from the chimney breast as the chimney recess should have been made larger at the rear to accommodate the burner. The installer has bent the flue backwards to allow it to fit into the chimney stack and as it’s bent, the collar that should be connecting the flue to the plate above the burner and sealing the chimney off wouldn’t fit, so the installer used Polyfiller instead. The chimney has a gas fire chimney pot on top, which has holes too small to allow billowing smoke to leave the chimney quickly, therefore would cause the smoke to back up inside the chimney and come back down.

I have been quoted £2,005.00 for remedial work to rectify this travesty.

My questions are:

- Should this have been spotted/checked by the Surveyor who carried out the Homebuyer Report? The chimney is one of those visible to him on survey and he did thoroughly inspect the chimneys as per his report, so should he have put two and two together to realise that the wrong kind of chimney pot for a wood burning stove was fitted?
- Should my solicitor have asked for an installation certificate or any regulation certificate to show it has been installed by a qualified person?
- Has the estate agent broken contractual agreements if they advertised the wood burning stove as a selling point on the property advert?
- Is there any way that I can recoup these costs from anyone due to negligence as I had no idea prior to purchasing the property that this was a ‘bodged job’ and that I would be faced with a £2000 bill to rectify this, or do I not have a leg to stand on here?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

G_M

CXO wrote: »

My questions are:

- Should this have been spotted/checked by the Surveyor who carried out the Homebuyer Report? The chimney is one of those visible to him on survey and he did thoroughly inspect the chimneys as per his report, so should he have put two and two together to realise that the wrong kind of chimney pot for a wood burning stove was fitted?
It's worth asking the question. He recommnded getting a gas enginer to inspect the gas fire - I'm surprised he did not recomend a similar specialist HETAS inspection of the burner (surveyors are not experts in these)

- Should my solicitor have asked for an installation certificate or any regulation certificate to show it has been installed by a qualified person?
did your solicitor know there was a solid fuelburner? Did you tell him?
Yes depending when it was installed it should have had BR and either the solicitor (if he knew) and/or surveyor should have advised you to request this

- Has the estate agent broken contractual agreements if they advertised the wood burning stove as a selling point on the property advert?
No

- Is there any way that I can recoup these costs from anyone due to negligence as I had no idea prior to purchasing the property that this was a ‘bodged job’ and that I would be faced with a £2000 bill to rectify this, or do I not have a leg to stand on here?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

I suspect any claim will be a struggle.


But for the sake of a 1st class stamp or two, why not write to the surveyor and/or solicitor?

-taff

Did you get a HETAS certificate from the homeowner for the log fire?

dimbo61

Death trap log burner
Also highly pollluting.
Please get a CO alarm for the gas fire, gas boiler and BIN the log burner

SG27

If the log burner was installed post 2010 (IIRC) it would have required building regs sign off or a hetas certificate if installed professionally. If your solicitor had known it was there they should have requested it.

Thrugelmir

CXO wrote: »

You need to ensure that the gas fire is checked by a heating engineer before use to ensure it is in safe and satisfactory order.

Did you prior to purchasing the property?

Mutton_Geoff

I've had 3 log burners installed in the last couple of years. All have been good quality Charnwood. None of the total bills have exceeded £2,000 so I think you're being ripped off for "remedial work".

CXO

No I wasn’t aware it was required and would have relied on my solicitor to request

CXO

Thanks for the replies so far, the remedial work is to bash through the chimney a bit more to allow the burner to sit correctly so I thought building work would have been costly, it’s just the fact it was installed incorrectly and no one seemed to pick up on this so now I’m faced with a bill to rectify, which is surely unfair as people like the surveyor and solicitor had opportunities to inspect/request docs

DCFC79

CXO wrote: »

No I wasn’t aware it was required and would have relied on my solicitor to request

To who are you referring to here ?
Use the quote button, makes it easier.

G_M

CXO wrote: »

No I wasn’t aware it was required and would have relied on my solicitor to request

If your solicitor had known it was there they should have requested it.
Did you inform your solicitor there was a wood burner? he never visited the property (I assume!) and is not psychic!