Boiler Problems!

mr_munchem

Hi all

We purchased our house approx 1.5 years ago. It is a mid-terrace 1970s house, it was originally built with hot hair heating but was retrofitted with central heating and a gas combi boiler at an unknown time.

When we purchased the house we demanded a gas inspection from the vendor; the inspector reported no problems.

However, the boiler started leaking and it appears the boiler wasn't installed with a safety release pipe/valve and so is potentially very dangerous.

Does anybody have any idea if we now have any recourse against the inspector and / or vendor as we are going to have to invest significant money into the boiler because this is causing the leak!

Thanks

bris

The PRV is built in to all combi boilers that I know of. Is the leak coming from this PRV (pressure relief valve)


When you say no pipe do you mean there is no 15mm copper pipe coming from the PRV to the outside? usually they just drill a hole just under the boiler to the outside.


The PRV will operate without the pipe but the water would potentially cause issues, is the boiler still working?


What make and model is the boiler and can you post pictures of all the pipework and where it's leaking from?


The inspector would have tested the boiler at the time1.5 years ago and wouldn't necessarily have picked up on the missing pipe as an oversight.


PRV's do tend to leak now and again but it's an easy fix. as is drilling a hole and adding the pipe to it but pictures would help. How may copper pipes do have under the boiler?

Ectophile

Apart from it being 1.5 years ago, I can't see it being easy.


You asked the vendor for an inspection, so they had one done and gave you the report. They haven't done anything wrong.


The inspector did a report for the vendor, not for you. Even if the report was wrong, you are not their customer.

Mr.Generous

What kind of report did you get? A gas safety cert would not look at the PRV or pipework. If its a missing PRV run off pipe its a very small job. Condensate pipe is the slightly more difficult job, the PRV pipe is just an inch of copper with a bend back to the wall.

Dan-Dan

You DEMANDED a report eh

My heart bleeds

RelievedSheff

You bought a house 18 months ago, something has gone wrong and now you want to go back to the seller?

Have you thought about how absurd that sounds?

It is your house, your boiler and your responsibility to get it fixed.

mr_munchem

Dan-Dan wrote: »

You DEMANDED a report eh

My heart bleeds

I do apologise that my wording was not to your liking, I'll try harder next time...
:money:

mr_munchem

RelievedSheff wrote: »

You bought a house 18 months ago, something has gone wrong and now you want to go back to the seller?

Have you thought about how absurd that sounds?

It is your house, your boiler and your responsibility to get it fixed.

As a lot of items in the house needed fixing prior to exchange (such as a lot of electrical work that we asked to be completed before completion) had the report highlighted this issue, we might have asked for it to be done as part of the sale?

Additionally, my thought was more that if this report does come through saying it is unsafe then perhaps the engineer's inspection was not sufficient or professional - just a thought!

Came to the forum for advice as it's normally a friendly place - only asking for assistance

mr_munchem

Mr.Generous wrote: »

What kind of report did you get? A gas safety cert would not look at the PRV or pipework. If its a missing PRV run off pipe its a very small job. Condensate pipe is the slightly more difficult job, the PRV pipe is just an inch of copper with a bend back to the wall.

Thank you. I am awaiting the final report as it was very briefly explained to my partner and then I'll have a better idea. Thank you, it might not be as bad as I thought!

mr_munchem

bris wrote: »

The PRV is built in to all combi boilers that I know of. Is the leak coming from this PRV (pressure relief valve)


When you say no pipe do you mean there is no 15mm copper pipe coming from the PRV to the outside? usually they just drill a hole just under the boiler to the outside.


The PRV will operate without the pipe but the water would potentially cause issues, is the boiler still working?


What make and model is the boiler and can you post pictures of all the pipework and where it's leaking from?


The inspector would have tested the boiler at the time1.5 years ago and wouldn't necessarily have picked up on the missing pipe as an oversight.


PRV's do tend to leak now and again but it's an easy fix. as is drilling a hole and adding the pipe to it but pictures would help. How may copper pipes do have under the boiler?

Perhaps it is the PRV that is leaking? We have 3 sets of joints under the bottom of the boiler. It is a Biasi model of some form (sorry not at home currently!). The water drips from under the far right joint, but the joint is not the source of the leak (if that makes sense). There is no pipe from the boiler to the outside for the PRV.

Thank you! :beer:

ess0two

18 moths later, always someone elses fault,take some ownership