Should I ask for a gas safety and electrical certificate? Vendor moved boiler himself

Zopeeclone

Hi there,
FTB here and completely out of my depth!! I've had an offer accepted on a house and just awaiting the surveyor to go round and complete the homebuyers report. My house-buying-savvy-and-cynical Uncle has advised me to be a canny buyer and ask for a gas safe certificate and electricians certificate; lest I move in and get hit with several thousands pounds worth of repairs.

From what I've read, the vendor is under no obligation to do this. Just wondering how hard I should push for this if they say no? The boiler is apparently only 3 years old but the owner of the house (somehow) moved it from one of the bedrooms to the kitchen himself. As far as I know he's not a plumber but I didn't ask.

I had a plumber view the house with me briefly as I want to move the downstairs bathroom upstairs at some point so he has seen the boiler and seemed content with it, but obviously he didn't do any checks he just eyeballed it.

Just wondering what the common practise is? If they say no they won't pay, should I pay someone to go in and do it before contracts are exchanged?

Thanks so much!

AnotherJoe

Gas safe wont prove anything more than the boiler wont kill you. It could be ready to pack in in 3 months time. Get it serviced and a report which will include safety, Its a matter of negotiation who pays.
As for electrical report, its really for your own piece of mind and again a matter of negotiation who pays.
In either case, whether they pay or you do, you really want to be the one ordering it so that the report goes to you. You dont want a mate of the seller writing something up.

Given you have no idea who did the work (eg does "did it himself" really mean that or did he pay someone to do it and in either case were they qualified ) i would get the gas one done at least. Is this a very old house? (sounds like it) in which case worst case a rewire might be needed. So your uncle could be right that in this case its worth doing.

SG27

If he moved the boiler and pipework it would need to be done in compliance with building regs. If he did it himself and he is not a gas safe registered plumber then he would need building control to sign it off. Normally a gas safe engineer would do it and self certify that the installation complies and give you a gas safe certificate.

Even if you are happy with what he has done, if your mortgage company find out about it They will insist on the certificate. If there isn't one you or the vendor will have to pay for an indmnity policy to cover the lack of certificate.

Norman_Castle

The boiler is apparently only 3 years old but the owner of the house (somehow) moved it from one of the bedrooms to the kitchen himself.

I would expect this needs an installation certificate. Moving the boiler between rooms is no different to a fresh installation.

Not_Radio2

Oh, come on! 1st time buyer or not, of course you should be requesting to see the necessary Certificates! If they refuse or 'can't find them', tell them to either cover the cost of getting the boiler professionally checked over, or WALK AWAY.
In the 1980's a guy I worked with helped a friend move house. He removed her gas cooker, lugged the furniture on and off the hired van. And thought nothing more about it.
UNTIL he was arrested on a manslaughter charge. An elderly man moved into the vacant property and was killed by a gas explosion caused by the gas connection not being capped off when the cooker was disconnected, weeks before.
You don't take chances where gas is concerned - nor electrics for that matter. Surely in your own mind, you know what you should do? Get sight of the original Certificates or move on.

AnotherJoe

Not_Radio2 wrote: »

Oh, come on! 1st time buyer or not, of course you should be requesting to see the necessary Certificates! If they refuse or 'can't find them', tell them to either cover the cost of getting the boiler professionally checked over, or WALK AWAY.
In the 1980's a guy I worked with helped a friend move house. He removed her gas cooker, lugged the furniture on and off the hired van. And thought nothing more about it.
UNTIL he was arrested on a manslaughter charge. An elderly man moved into the vacant property and was killed by a gas explosion caused by the gas connection not being capped off when the cooker was disconnected, weeks before.
You don't take chances where gas is concerned - nor electrics for that matter. Surely in your own mind, you know what you should do? Get sight of the original Certificates or move on.

What certificates? There's no obligation to have these for a residential non BTL house

Not_Radio2

Maybe Certificate is the wrong choice of word. But you are, I'm sure aware of what I was getting at!
When messing with gas/electric YOU DON'T TAKE CHANCES.
You have a professional in. Doh!
They are formally trained to do the work and get paid. They give a receipt. You offer this to the buyer at the very least.

AnotherJoe

you might know but an FTB probably isn't aware that houses don't come with gas and electric certificates and it would be very rare for a seller to get these before selling.


p.s. Probably better to ask for a report on the electrical condition rather than just "is it safe". Two different things. Might be safe but still rewiring advised perhaps insufficient sockets, fuse board old no RCD etc etc etc. You want something more than a bit of paper that says its safe but doesn't comply with current standards.

Owain_Moneysaver

Zopeeclone wrote: »

The boiler is apparently only 3 years old but the owner of the house (somehow) moved it from one of the bedrooms to the kitchen himself. As far as I know he's not a plumber but I didn't ask.

Either the seller provides a completed Benchmark installation record and proof of Building Regulations compliance and notification, or you drop your offer by £4k to reflect the costs of getting the boiler removed and reinstalled and recommissioned in accordance with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

£4k because you may need a new boiler and a lot of building work depending on how badly/illegally the work was done.

LadyDee

Actually, it's more usual for the buyer to ask the seller to allow access for the buyer's electrical/gas installer to do inspections, at the buyer's expense.

Beenie

I am a bit confused now. All the work we have had done in our house - electrical, gas, double glazing and high pressure boiler installation - has been done by properly qualified tradesmen who routinely give you a certificate when the job is ended and has been checked. If anyone in the future buys our house, we have proof that all work has been done professionally and satisfies FENSA, part P regs etc. I thought all people did this. I would hate to buy a house where the previous owner had been mucking about and doing his own amateur gas or electrics.