Gas Boiler installed in non compliance with manufacturer spec

cjm46

Hope someone can help. I've just paid £2,100 for a new gas boiler to be installed through heatable.co.uk. It came with an advertised 10 year manufacturer's guarantee and heatable dealt with the paperwork to register it. It was installed by a sub contractor engineer in an under the stairs cupboard where my old gas boiler had been - wall mounted. It's a confined space but the installing engineer didn't raise objections and advise against it. A leak appeared quickly and to sort this the manufacturer, Worcester Bosch, sent an engineer to replace a part. Their WB engineer was specifically used so as not to void the guarantee. That engineer said there was not enough space from the boiler to nearby wall and left a notice to this effect. He said WB might not honour the guarantee as installation didn't not comply with their requirements. Also, he said WB engineers might object to working on a boiler in such a confined space.

I've raised this with heatable who went to WB to try to resolve. 2 weeks back heatable said they were waiting to hear from WB. I have heard nothing further. I have written a letter to Heatable saying they are in breach of contract and duty of care (the below spec distance to the nearby walls has my mains fusebox mounted on it - so it's not just a close wall but one with all my electrics). I said that to put matters right, the boiler needs relocating so it complies with WB specs at no further cost to me.

So, I have a boiler, now working ok, but probably a worthless warranty. I would still like the boiler installed correctly. Heatable were quick to take my money, but are slow to deal with this aftersales issue. I'd appreciate any help on how to escalate this complaint with governing bodies etc. Would resolver be an effective method to put pressure on heatable to put right the breach of contract etc? If I have to, can I start a court case for the breach of contract/duty of care? If push comes to shove, I would do the paperwork myself but dont' want to face expenses that wouldn't be recoverable from Heatable in full.

thanks in anticipation

Robbo66

Have a word with Gas Safe, tell them what WB have said and ask if they could send someone out to inspect. If its in that confined a space does it have the required ventilation?

cjm46

Thanks Robbo66. I spoke to Gas Safe who confirmed that the installation was 'non compliant' and has to be remedied by correctly re-installing the boiler. My efforts have received a response from Heatable now who seem more motivated to resolve things. It's interesting too, that my phone calls and emails seemed to have been met with too much indifference but I posted a low trustpilot review today and they had already picked up on it and mentioned it in my conversation with them. I'm not an unreserved supporter of online reviews but they certainly can be part of an effective course of action.

cx6

obviously early days but did you pay any part of the bill by credit card (or pay on finance) as if so you may have some protection there.

cjm46

I paid the whole bill by credit card cx6. I'm not sure of the type of protection that might be available though in these circumstances

cx6

A lot of protection. If a gas boiler is fitter in non-compliant manner then it has not been fitted properly. Moreover it could be dangerous and eg if it failed and started a fire and burned your house down your insurance company would not pay. Or if someone was gassed and you knowingly let a faulty boiler be used you could be indited for manslaughter.

You need to as a matter of urgency get someone to rectify the situation and your credit card company is jointly liable and if heatable won't pay then the card company has to.

Call them and advise the card company of the situation and say you want to start a S75 claim for the full amount of the contract. That will get the ball rolling. Notify heatable you have a potentially dangerous boiler and tell them to rectify it immediately or you are going to find another installer.

cx6

Just thought I would add this. You have been given two expert opinions telling you the gas boiler was not installed correctly, so unless they both added ..."but don't worry you can still keep using it" then you have to stop using it immediately.

The first thing is to get the installation rectified. If it were me I would keep getting on at heatable but also contact a local firm and ask them to come and quote you for the rectification work. At some point next week if heatable don't do anything I would ask this firm to proceed - in any case I would not trust heatable even if they did come and you would certainly need to get Gas Safe out once heatable had re-installed to check it.

You will have to pay this local firm of course but then you claim that money plus any other expenses back from heatable - first direct, then via S75 card company and finally if necessary via small claims court.

bris

If it's in a confined space then the reason is because the casing is to near a wall. This doesn't make the boiler dangerous to use so don't panic about that as it's a sealed system. If it was dangerous then the WB engineer would have put a danger do not use label on it.

The boiler needs 700mm minimum (unless manufacturers instructions say otherwise} between the front of the casing and the back wall for an engineer to work on the boiler properly. There are also minimum requirements between the side of the case and a wall usually about 20 to 50mm.

My guess is that under the stair case there is very little room both behind and above for an engineer to work properly.

cjm46

cx6 That's interesting regarding the credit card cover. I wasn't aware it would apply in this situation. Any possibility you can refer me to specific authority regarding this? That's certainly a possible fall back possibility. Heatable, meanwhile, have been responding and seem to be motivated to resolve and have confirmed they will relocate the boiler if needed. The 'if needed' bit is because there is the possibility Worcester Bosch can waive the min distance if the boiler can be worked on appropriately. Having said that, Gas Safe have indicated that as a non compliant installation (not a dangerous one btw as bris also points out) I can require the installer to relocate to a proper location. This seems to be the right solution which I'll be pushing for.

bris You're spot on with what Gas Safe advised. Not dangerous but not practical to work on. The actual distance from the front of the boiler to the fuse box on the facing wall is under 45cm (the min distance spec of WB). The installing engineer kept banging around doing the original installation and removed a small shelf over the fuse box so he could work (didn't put it back either). Before he started, I was at pains to say how difficult it was to work in the space, offered a stall so he could sit and work rather than bend awkwardly, made specific reference to the closeness of the fuse box. Despite that, he went ahead without any warning except the suggestion he might have some issue with putting in the pipe that took away the condensation.In one sense I've been lucky, he must have known the space wasn't adequate, but thought, after installation, it wouldn't be picked up for a year or more, on first service etc. The fact I had a leak within 2 weeks, brought this problem out. Lucky me.

As I say, Heatable have been making positive remedial sounds. I'll take it up with them on Monday and let you know how it goes.

cx6

Re credit card cover - although duplicate posts are a bit frowned up on these boards, I am sure no-one would mind if you posted the question over on the credit card board - there are lots of knowledgeable people there who can advise.

Keep the post short and simple and ask if section 75 cover would apply.

sheramber

Where would the boiler be moved to?