Vaillant have put a block on my boiler

P933alilli

Hello,

         i bought a new boiler in february 2020 and a couple of weeks ago i didnt have any hot water although the radiators were working ok!
The engineer of the company who installed it was on holiday so he told me to ring vaillant. A vaillant engineer came out last thursday and wouldnt go up into the loft because i have no loft ladder. So, my local lad told me not to worry as he'd get the part , he was back from holiday and ordered it yesterday, and would come and fit it asap! But hes just rung me to say that the Vaillant engineer has put a block on the boiler because i dont have a loft ladder and if my local engineer does come out to fit the part it will invalidate the 5 year warranty.
I'm now trying to get a joiner to fit  a loft ladder so that i can then book a vaillant appointment in order for my so called new boiler to get bloody fixed!
  But the boiler also stopped working, fully, in april 2020 and one of the local engineer's colleagues  came out and told me that sometimes a new boiler can stop for no reason. He got it working again and i just took his word for it. Then in november 2020, i had a small leak in the back room under where the boiler is fitted. The local engineer himself came out and asked had i been up to the boiler as the condensate pipe was broken. I hadnt been up there as i struggle with a bad knee. I now dont know who to trust in all this. I dont think i trust my local engineer or vaillant. But it looks like i'll have to pay for a new loft ladder to get the boiler working and any hot water!

gozaimasu

Does it have to be a loft ladder or could they hoik themselves up from a normal ladder?

Health and Safety eh...

Ergates

Do you have your years mixed up?   All that happened over a year ago?

Ergates

gozaimasu said:

Does it have to be a loft ladder or could they hoik themselves up from a normal ladder?

Health and Safety eh...

They obviously *could*, but that might be in violation of their company insurance policy and could lose them their job.

tacpot12

Sorry you are having this problem, but you should have had a loft ladder fitted when you agreed to have the boiler fitted in the loft. Access is always risky, and many boiler companies insist that a loft ladder is fitted, and that the access across the loft is boarded too.

I would suggest you call Vaillant and ask if they will remove the block. You have a local firm that is happy to go into the loft and you are without heating in winter, so it seems a bit unreasonable that Vaillant are saying that your warranty will be invalidated if you use a local firm. This is never normally the case. Vaillant are usually happy for any Gas Safe engineer to service their boilers. Try to find out why they are not happy about it in your case, and report back.  

P933alilli

Thanks my local engineer has just been on to one of the vaillant reps and hes agreed to let my engineer fit the part as long as i then get a loft ladder fitted! Thats fair enough! I did know of the ruling but ive had so much on ive been unable to get around to it. Hopefully my engineer will be able to fit the part & get my boiler running on wednesday! Then i'll get a joiner to come and fit a loft ladder!Hopefully!

DCFC79

Collyflower1 said:

Thanks my local engineer has just been on to one of the vaillant reps and hes agreed to let my engineer fit the part as long as i then get a loft ladder fitted! Thats fair enough! I did know of the ruling but ive had so much on ive been unable to get around to it. Hopefully my engineer will be able to fit the part & get my boiler running on wednesday! Then i'll get a joiner to come and fit a loft ladder!Hopefully!

Why not a loft ladder that pulls down, can get them from B&Q and maybe places like Screwfix, Toolstation.

Jenni_D

DCFC79 said:

Collyflower1 said:

Thanks my local engineer has just been on to one of the vaillant reps and hes agreed to let my engineer fit the part as long as i then get a loft ladder fitted! Thats fair enough! I did know of the ruling but ive had so much on ive been unable to get around to it. Hopefully my engineer will be able to fit the part & get my boiler running on wednesday! Then i'll get a joiner to come and fit a loft ladder!Hopefully!

Why not a loft ladder that pulls down, can get them from B&Q and maybe places like Screwfix, Toolstation.

Not everyone would feel comfortable trying to fit one themselves. For example the loft hatch may need to be altered to suit the fitting of a ladder - even one of those pull-down ones (which is what I have).

Undervalued

gozaimasu said:

Does it have to be a loft ladder or could they hoik themselves up from a normal ladder?

Health and Safety eh...

And rightly so in this case!

If you have a boiler (or any other appliance) in your loft it is perfectly reasonable for a company servicing it to require proper, safe access.

Just because a local one man band is willing to make his own assessment and do some gymnastics doesn't mean the representative of a large firm, who will be bound by their rules, is going to do the same.

TELLIT01

tacpot12 said:

Sorry you are having this problem, but you should have had a loft ladder fitted when you agreed to have the boiler fitted in the loft. Access is always risky, and many boiler companies insist that a loft ladder is fitted, and that the access across the loft is boarded too.

I would suggest you call Vaillant and ask if they will remove the block. You have a local firm that is happy to go into the loft and you are without heating in winter, so it seems a bit unreasonable that Vaillant are saying that your warranty will be invalidated if you use a local firm. This is never normally the case. Vaillant are usually happy for any Gas Safe engineer to service their boilers. Try to find out why they are not happy about it in your case, and report back.  

If the installers wanted/needed a loft ladder that should have been made clear before or during the original installation.  As it doesn't seem to have been an issue then I don't see why it's become one now.

ssparks2003

TELLIT01 said:

If the installers wanted/needed a loft ladder that should have been made clear before or during the original installation.  As it doesn't seem to have been an issue then I don't see why it's become one now.

From my reading of the post, the installer is not the boiler company, and the OP is doing a warranty claim against vaillent. As the op states the following 

The engineer of the company who installed it was on holiday so he told me to ring vaillant

It seems fair that vaillent can put any reasonable requirement in the way of H&S they like