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Gas turned off. No buildings regs cert for boiler. What checks should my lawyer have done?

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  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,075 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 9 April 2020 at 11:55AM
    davidmcn said:
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Thanks for your quick reply. I'm trying to claim from my new home warranty
    There appears to be 3-4 main providers that they broker for. Is your fault covered as below?

    The underwriter is AmTrust. It seems to be covered.
    The cost of repairing or making good any defects in the chimneys and flues of the home which was newly constructed by the developer and which causes an imminent danger to the health and safety of occupants


    £10000+vat still appears to be expensive? Did you get a number of quotes?
    I agree it sounds absurdly high just to replace the flue and condensate pipe and add some access panels.
    And even put on a new roof with it!  Although I've never had a situation in 20 years and a LOT of new boilers where that was even a consideration... 

    This is one weird thread.  I think it's a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. 

    OP, please be careful to seek proper quotes.  And maybe not from Pimlico, eh? 
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • nimss
    nimss Posts: 7 Forumite
    First Post
    edited 9 April 2020 at 12:05PM
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Thanks for your quick reply. I'm trying to claim from my new home warranty
    There appears to be 3-4 main providers that they broker for. Is your fault covered as below?

    The underwriter is AmTrust. It seems to be covered.
    The cost of repairing or making good any defects in the chimneys and flues of the home which was newly constructed by the developer and which causes an imminent danger to the health and safety of occupants


    Good. Did not know it was a newly constructed property as the list of faults led me to believe it was older.

    £10000+vat still appears to be expensive? Did you get a number of quotes?
    I shared 2 quotes with the insurance company.
    Pimlico Plumbers' quote was £9.5k (including VAT - my mistake) but didn't include costs to 'make good or decoration works'. Pimlico are known for being expensive but were the only ones who could come to my flat on the day to deal with the leaking boiler.

    My second quote was for £7k and included costs to make good.

    Both plumbers raised concerns about meeting the requirement for a 2 degree fall back to the boiler.

    My third quote was for £4k and involved re-routing the flue to the nearest wall. The current flue crosses the length of my kitchen and has 4x 90degree angles.


  • ProDave
    ProDave Posts: 3,785 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    One thing I don't think has been mentioned, is the requirement to be able to inspect all of a flue is relatively new and may not have been in place when the property was built.
    The new, shorter flue route for £4K sounds the better option to me.
  • edgex
    edgex Posts: 4,212 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    So, this has been going on for a month, & your getting nowhere.

    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edgex said:
    So, this has been going on for a month, & your getting nowhere.

    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?
    It won't make any difference if he does.
    The developer will simply point him to the warranty.
    The council can't do anything about no BR sign-off, although it almost certainly was signed off as a whole, else the developer wouldn't have been able to register it for the warranty.

    He has a choice.
    1. Pay to fix his boiler and flue.
    2. Continue to chase the warranty to pay to fix his boiler and flue.
  • edgex
    edgex Posts: 4,212 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    AdrianC said:
    edgex said:
    So, this has been going on for a month, & your getting nowhere.

    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?
    It won't make any difference if he does.
    The developer will simply point him to the warranty.
    The council can't do anything about no BR sign-off, although it almost certainly was signed off as a whole, else the developer wouldn't have been able to register it for the warranty.

    He has a choice.
    1. Pay to fix his boiler and flue.
    2. Continue to chase the warranty to pay to fix his boiler and flue.
    The developer, & the council, may be able to bring some pressure to bear on the warranty provider.
  • nimss
    nimss Posts: 7 Forumite
    First Post
    edgex said:
    So, this has been going on for a month, & your getting nowhere.

    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?

    edgex said:
    So, this has been going on for a month, & your getting nowhere.

    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?
    The flue issue is not an isolated incident in my building. My neighbour is currently in the same position (he got an 'At Risk' warning notice). I know of 4 other leasholders in the building who have had to change their flue.

    The Gas Safe Register came to my flat but had to stop halfway through the inspection (he visited the property at 9am the day after the PM told everyone to work from home). I have arranged for another inspection after the social distancing rules are lifted. The inspector indicated that my flue inspection was very bad and that turning off my gas supply was warrented. He mentioned that he had visited another flat in the building and would check up on the outcome of that investigation.

    My intention is to raise a Gas Safety Register complaint against the original installer once an inspection in complete.

    The company who signed off the Building Controls confirmed:
    I have carried out a further review of the information accessible to me electronically and have been unable to locate details in respect of the commissioning to the gas boiler within your apartment at the time of its construction. It is possible that the documents are in our hardcopy archive which I am unable to access at the moment.
    I asked around and no other leaseholder in my building received a Buildings Regulations certificate for their boiler. The building is only 6 years old. I would like to raise a complaint against the company who signed off Building Controls. I assume that a complaint can be raised with HSE?

    Redirecting the flue requires Freeholder approval. I've been waiting for the last 2 weeks for them to provide me with building plans so that the plumber can figure out why the current flue route was taken.

    I have not contacted my local councillor yet.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 9 April 2020 at 6:40PM
    edgex said:
    AdrianC said:
    edgex said:
    Have you contacted the original builder/developer?
    Have you contacted your local councillor?
    It won't make any difference if he does.
    The developer will simply point him to the warranty.
    The council can't do anything about no BR sign-off, although it almost certainly was signed off as a whole, else the developer wouldn't have been able to register it for the warranty.
    The developer, & the council, may be able to bring some pressure to bear on the warranty provider.
    They won't. And, even if they do, I very much doubt it'll make any difference. Either this is within the terms of the warranty, or it isn't. I know which way I suspect it lies.

    B'sides, a large part of the issue here is the freeholder not having replied to the request for permission to alter the route, and to provide (probably unnecessary) documentation.
  • ComicGeek
    ComicGeek Posts: 1,653 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    nimss said:
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Hasbeen said:
    nimss said:
    Thanks for your quick reply. I'm trying to claim from my new home warranty
    There appears to be 3-4 main providers that they broker for. Is your fault covered as below?

    The underwriter is AmTrust. It seems to be covered.
    The cost of repairing or making good any defects in the chimneys and flues of the home which was newly constructed by the developer and which causes an imminent danger to the health and safety of occupants


    Good. Did not know it was a newly constructed property as the list of faults led me to believe it was older.

    £10000+vat still appears to be expensive? Did you get a number of quotes?
    I shared 2 quotes with the insurance company.
    Pimlico Plumbers' quote was £9.5k (including VAT - my mistake) but didn't include costs to 'make good or decoration works'. Pimlico are known for being expensive but were the only ones who could come to my flat on the day to deal with the leaking boiler.

    My second quote was for £7k and included costs to make good.

    Both plumbers raised concerns about meeting the requirement for a 2 degree fall back to the boiler.

    My third quote was for £4k and involved re-routing the flue to the nearest wall. The current flue crosses the length of my kitchen and has 4x 90degree angles.


    Have you looked at the cost to move the boiler position to where it's easier to get the flue out the wall, if you're installing a new boiler anyway? You'll need to extend pipework to the new position, and find a solution for the condensate, but at least the flue would be simpler.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ...at this rate, the OP's looking at a whole new kitchen. With a boiler install, that might cost ten grand!

    <ducks>
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