Home Buyers Survey - Dodgy boiler plumbing?

911bill

Hi All,
I am due to exchange on a property shortly, we are just awaiting the local authority search to come back. 
I had a home buyers survey performed and it was all OK, nothing pointing out any issues.
However, upon showing a video to a friend, he pointed out the boiler and said plastic pipes would be more than 1.5m away from the boiler.. That's not legal, not sure if he meant to standard as opposed to being illegal?

Anyway, should the home buyers survey have mentioned this or picked up on it?
This photo is of the boiler which is in a utility area, pretty rough as the sellers have not got around to finishing it all. 

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51000006701_718c5100c8_c.jpg[/img]
[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50999303393_132e680de3_c.jpg[/img]

Any advice would be great! 

What do I do? Do I talk to the sellers solicitors to get a maintenance or service record?
Should the survey have picked something up here?

This is from the report;
The maintenance and service records for the gas boiler and central heating supply should be verified. Where there are gas appliances within a property we consider it prudent and recommend the installation of carbon monoxide spot detectors as a matter of good safety. An appropriately qualified specialist should be instructed prior to purchase commitment to confirm the full adequacy and compliance of the installation. We did not in any way test the gas installation, however we noted no visible defects nor did we smell gas.

The plumbing installations were not specifically tested. We recommend a test prior to purchase commitment by an appropriately qualified person to determine the condition under variable operational requirements. The internal stopcock is located in the cupboard under the stairs but was not tested. The internal stopcock on the rising main should be tested prior to purchase commitment to confirm adequacy or otherwise in use In view of the many and continued changes to water regulations it is not possible to confirm if all of the plumbing system conforms to current regulation and by-laws. Whilst such changes might well be of a technical nature, we recommend that specific enquiry be made of the vendors through your solicitor to ascertain whether any alterations to the internal plumbing have been made by unqualified contractors. Pressure to the mains fed sanitary fittings was adequate at the time of inspection with no cold water storage facility to the property. Please be aware that the lack of a cold water storage system means that you will have no stored water should the supply be temporarily interrupted. 

Central heating is provided with a gas boiler and radiators as the heat emitters. There is a fan assisted flue terminal gas combination boiler in the utility area with a thermostat in the lounge. The central heating system was not tested. We recommend a test prior to purchase commitment by an appropriately qualified person to be categoric regarding condition under variable operational requirements. It is recommended that service records be obtained and if the boiler has not been serviced recently, an appropriately qualified person should be instructed to undertake a full service including checking the ventilation to the boiler in addition to checking and cleaning out the flues as found to be necessary. We were unable to verify the output of the boiler and we would stress that no calculations have been made to verify its adequacy. Furthermore, we are unable to verify whether the boiler is properly ventilated in accordance with current regulations. 

The hot water system was not tested. We recommend a test prior to purchase commitment by an appropriately qualified person to determine the condition under variable operational requirements. Hot water is provided by the combination boiler (see Section G4). This type of system usually removes the need for cold and hot water storage, thus reducing energy consumption. Typically with combination boiler domestic hot water systems, the flow rates through the hot taps are not particularly good, especially when more than one tap is in use. When hot water is needed, it can only be supplied at the speed at which the boiler can heat the water. Accordingly, filling of baths can take a long time in comparison with a conventional system, where stored hot water can be drawn off from a hot water cylinder.



Many thanks

theoretica

911bill said:

However, upon showing a video to a friend, he pointed out the boiler and said plastic pipes would be more than 1.5m away from the boiler.. That's not legal, not sure if he meant to standard as opposed to being illegal?

It is (as so often) more complicated than that - depends on which pipes (the condensate drain coming out of my boiler is plastic) and also what sort of plastic... 

davilown

Not sure what your friend is on about - I have plastic pipes well within 1.5m.
If in doubt, pay to have a gas safety inspection done. 

AdrianC

Pretty? No.
But that looks like the condensate drain to me - we've got a very similar boiler, and that's hard plastic all the way to the soft, flexible drain loop (which you can just about see in the pic) which is part of the boiler itself.

greatcrested

As advised by your surveyor's report, if you have concerns about the boiler or gas generally:

An appropriately qualified specialist should be instructed prior to purchase commitment to confirm the full adequacy and compliance of the installation.

Alternatively, post over here where lots of gas engineers hang out.

davidmcn

I agree that looks like the condensate drain.
What qualifications does your friend have? Might be better not to listen to them...

911bill

Thanks guys,
The pictures aren't the best, sorry, just screen grabs from video.
I think there are a couple which appear to be T'd off but the one you see that runs along the walls goes to an outside tape. That is all I know and can tell you right now. 

Thank you for the assistance!