Seller Has No Gas or Electricity Cerificates

canaldumidi

FataVerde said:

Snookie12cat said:

FataVerde said:

jimbog said:

Have you checked on here? At least you can see if one exists
https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/gas-safety/gas-safety-certificates-records/building-regulations-certificate/order-replacement-building-regulations-certificate/

Thanks! What's a Building Regulations Certificate? I found a record on the website: for completion date 17/03/2010 for gas boiler. Does this mean it was installed in 2010? Or that it was serviced or got a safety check in 2010? Does it make sense to order the certificate or will it just confirm it was installed according to regulations? 

It just proves it was installed. Just paid £6 for mine and you would rather you didn't 🤣 almost as much info from the page showing its registered

I googled sample Building Reg Certificate sample and figured it's useless as a document 

Why useless? It proves it was installed to a set of highy detailed and exacting standards as opposed to plumbed and wired in by a bodger in 30 minutes with scant regard for safety, efficiency or regulations.

To view detail of what the certificate means, google the Building Regulations for boiler installations. Massive document!

TheJP

Snookie12cat said:

TheJP said:

Snookie12cat said:

FataVerde said:

Snookie12cat said:

FataVerde said:

Buying a 1BR Victorian conversion from the 1920s and the seller, who lived there for 6 years, has no knowledge of when electrical or gas installations were completed and apparently no electricity or gas certificates. They mentioned in response to my solicitor that they had the boiler serviced in 2019, but no longer have the papers. Is this typical with homeowners? I know they don't have to be annual as with rented places, but they have no document whatsoever. They seem open to servicing the boiler, but should I do gas and electrical inspections myself? They are currently living in the house so the electrics and gas must be working, I guess. Thanks!

Very common. I have lived in my house 10 years. I have never ever had an electrical check and since I had the boiler installed I have never had it serviced. 
I don't need to. It works fine and I have no problems, so lots of homeowners don't do it for this reason. 

The current vendors were FTB 6 years ago too. I would have assumed they carried out such checks. It makes sense if you installed the boiler yourself that you wouldn't worry, but in this case the vendors have not installed it and have no knowledge of when it was installed either.

Some people do not care. I wouldn't service any boiler tbh whether I installed it or not. I don't really see any benefit to it. 

Really? That's like saying why bother servicing your car.

If you installed the boiler/depending on age and don't service it annually you lose the warranty plus the added risk of something going wrong when you actually rely on the boiler.

I don't service my car 🤣 it never goes wrong and passes the mot every year. 

There are just different kinds of people I think - I would just pay if it went wrong rather than pay when it's fine 🤷‍♀️. I would only do the service to preserve the warranty. 

You're right and at the end of the day its what each person is comfortable with.

I need to go lay down now...

FataVerde

canaldumidi said:

FataVerde said:

Snookie12cat said:

FataVerde said:

jimbog said:

Have you checked on here? At least you can see if one exists
https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/gas-safety/gas-safety-certificates-records/building-regulations-certificate/order-replacement-building-regulations-certificate/

Thanks! What's a Building Regulations Certificate? I found a record on the website: for completion date 17/03/2010 for gas boiler. Does this mean it was installed in 2010? Or that it was serviced or got a safety check in 2010? Does it make sense to order the certificate or will it just confirm it was installed according to regulations? 

It just proves it was installed. Just paid £6 for mine and you would rather you didn't 🤣 almost as much info from the page showing its registered

I googled sample Building Reg Certificate sample and figured it's useless as a document 

Why useless? It proves it was installed to a set of highy detailed and exacting standards as opposed to plumbed and wired in by a bodger in 30 minutes with scant regard for safety, efficiency or regulations.

To view detail of what the certificate means, google the Building Regulations for boiler installations. Massive document!

But I already know the certificate exists so the boiler was properly installed. Why would I need to buy the actual document? That's what I get when googling. Unless I am missing something and the document does provide further information on the boiler, t's a generic document confirming installation according to the rules but nothing else. https://londonboilercompany.com/compliance-certificate/

FataVerde

Slithery said:

FataVerde said: 

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

Does the boiler not work? First time you've mentioned this.
What makes you think that it's on it's last legs?

I did not say it does not currently work, but that it;s aging. The gas engineer I asked said an Ideal Logic boiler would last about 15 years if regularly serviced and checked so that's another 3 years. Judging by the vendor being completely unable to provide any documentation and stating that no service or check was performed on the boiler during their 6-year stay in the flat, this boiler had none of the checks and services. Firms that sell this brand also have Q&A sections on their websites and also suggest 15 years. The warranty is 2 or 7 years for these boilers judging by current online offers. 

Slithery

FataVerde said:

Slithery said:

FataVerde said: 

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

Does the boiler not work? First time you've mentioned this.
What makes you think that it's on it's last legs?

I did not say it does not currently work, but that it;s aging.

Then what was the point of...

FataVerde said:

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order.

user1977

FataVerde said:

Slithery said:

FataVerde said: 

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

Does the boiler not work? First time you've mentioned this.
What makes you think that it's on it's last legs?

I did not say it does not currently work, but that it;s aging. The gas engineer I asked said an Ideal Logic boiler would last about 15 years if regularly serviced and checked so that's another 3 years. Judging by the vendor being completely unable to provide any documentation and stating that no service or check was performed on the boiler during their 6-year stay in the flat, this boiler had none of the checks and services. Firms that sell this brand also have Q&A sections on their websites and also suggest 15 years. The warranty is 2 or 7 years for these boilers judging by current online offers. 

So how old did you think it was when you made your offer? You presumably knew it wasn't brand new - just like everything else in the property. I wouldn't say it was a valid reason to chip away at the price, unless there's something actually wrong with it.

RelievedSheff

FataVerde said:

Thank you, all! Thanks to the collective wisdom in this forum, I now know the boiler is 12-year old and my photos indicate the make is Ideal Logic (Plus) Combi boiler, likely this model or similar https://www.directheatingsupplies.co.uk/ideal-logic-plus-24-combi-boiler

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

If you came back to me looking to reduce your offer for that reason then I would be telling you to find another property I'm afraid.

You knew the boiler wasn't brand new when you placed your offer.

badger09

FataVerde said:

Slithery said:

FataVerde said: 

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

Does the boiler not work? First time you've mentioned this.
What makes you think that it's on it's last legs?

I did not say it does not currently work, but that it;s aging. The gas engineer I asked said an Ideal Logic boiler would last about 15 years if regularly serviced and checked so that's another 3 years. Judging by the vendor being completely unable to provide any documentation and stating that no service or check was performed on the boiler during their 6-year stay in the flat, this boiler had none of the checks and services. Firms that sell this brand also have Q&A sections on their websites and also suggest 15 years. The warranty is 2 or 7 years for these boilers judging by current online offers. 

Suggest you do what we did when we moved here in Feb. Our boiler was obviously (from viewing) old, had dubious service history and was not switched on during either of our 2 viewings in November or surveyor's visit in December last year. Big red flags so we arranged for our CH engineer to visit before exchange and check that it was safe & working. It was.

Within a week of moving in, we had it serviced. About 3 weeks later it packed up, with an electrical fault remedied very quickly. We did some googling and established it was at least 16 years old. Rather than eke it out for a few more years we decided to replace it with a much more efficient one in September along with the other work we knew would be necessary.

At no point did we try to reduce our offer. Had it not been working, we would have done so.

FataVerde

badger09 said:

FataVerde said:

Slithery said:

FataVerde said: 

My offer on the house was pretty generous and assumed everything would be in working order. Would I have grounds to ask for a reduction of price given that this is an aging boiler and likely on its last legs?

Does the boiler not work? First time you've mentioned this.
What makes you think that it's on it's last legs?

I did not say it does not currently work, but that it;s aging. The gas engineer I asked said an Ideal Logic boiler would last about 15 years if regularly serviced and checked so that's another 3 years. Judging by the vendor being completely unable to provide any documentation and stating that no service or check was performed on the boiler during their 6-year stay in the flat, this boiler had none of the checks and services. Firms that sell this brand also have Q&A sections on their websites and also suggest 15 years. The warranty is 2 or 7 years for these boilers judging by current online offers. 

Suggest you do what we did when we moved here in Feb. Our boiler was obviously (from viewing) old, had dubious service history and was not switched on during either of our 2 viewings in November or surveyor's visit in December last year. Big red flags so we arranged for our CH engineer to visit before exchange and check that it was safe & working. It was.

Within a week of moving in, we had it serviced. About 3 weeks later it packed up, with an electrical fault remedied very quickly. We did some googling and established it was at least 16 years old. Rather than eke it out for a few more years we decided to replace it with a much more efficient one in September along with the other work we knew would be necessary.

At no point did we try to reduce our offer. Had it not been working, we would have done so.

So you had gas safety check, that I can understand, but why service a boiler so old? My gas engineer said servicing it after years of no checks and services can actually cause the boiler to start having issues or pack up like you said. 

powerful_Rogue

This thing about buyers and boilers really irks me. The house I sold last year had a boiler installed in 2006. Had a couple of services in the following years and then nothing since. In the 14 years, nothing went wrong with the boiler. For peace of mind to the buyer I got it serviced  - Boiler was still in tip top condition with no issues.

However the amount of viewers that said 'Oh, 14 years old, obviously it will need replacing'. Fortunately the viewers that said that never went onto make an offer - I would have ignored any request for a discount just so they could replace a fully working boiler.