Is there a gas safe person please?

james_smitha

I'm simply interested in the truth from someone without a vested interest that is in a position to know.

Last October my landlords called Orbit arranged for a new boiler to be installed which is 'most kind'

Now going on mid Feb, I am expected to believe that I need a gas safety check.

I'm advised by experienced sorts here that the boiler is acepted as safe for at least a year from the day of install.

The landlords are expecting me to believe that the gas supply part needs a safety check rather than the boiler.

I would have thought that before you even unload the new boiler from the van you check the gas supply, it is called a safe working environment.

Then before you leave the job you check that the boiler works properly and safely. The expectaction being that the boiler woud not come on if it was not safe.

 I'd hope that if in the course of installing the new boiler  something about the gas supply that looked borderline safe was seen, the installer would have some kind of obligation to report it incase of an explotion any time soon.

As a comparison, if you bought a new house and decided to fit a wall bracket for your TV, would you be drilling holes without first checking for cables/ pipes or that the wall was suitable, as in not just a flimsy partition wall?

Many thanks

Verdigris

They're probably just fitting you into an existing maintenance/inspection cycle. After this inspection I'd imagine subsequent ones will be a year apart.

Keep_pedalling

Verdigris said:

They're probably just fitting you into an existing maintenance/inspection cycle. After this inspection I'd imagine subsequent ones will be a year apart.

That or you have other gas appliances that need checking. Your landlord is a large housing association so will undoubtedly have a schedule of safety checks for their entire estate and won’t change that because of the odd change out of equipment in individual properties.

Is there a reason you don’t want them to be serious about meeting their obligations to your safety?

james_smitha

Keep_pedalling said:

Verdigris said:

They're probably just fitting you into an existing maintenance/inspection cycle. After this inspection I'd imagine subsequent ones will be a year apart.

That or you have other gas appliances that need checking. Your landlord is a large housing association so will undoubtedly have a schedule of safety checks for their entire estate and won’t change that because of the odd change out of equipment in individual properties.

Is there a reason you don’t want them to be serious about meeting their obligations to your safety?

I'm not against safety checks where genuine and justified.

As you ask, the only gas appliance here is the boiler and radiators. My cooker for example is electric.

I've lived here for at least 7 years, my experience is that they decide to do the check when they are board out of their skulls or have too much money setting their pockets on fire. They most definatley not do the checks anywere close to one a year.

The gates in the parameter wall to the flats and other external repairs and maintanence they do not give 'a f---' about.

Even though there are 8 flats here, doing all 8 in the same morning or afternoon is far no much common sence, so the idea of a schedule existing is a nice fantasy.

Many thanks to you

PennineAcute

As a private tenant, back in 2008, I had a brand new heating system installed for my landlord through disability.  When they had done the install, they then checked all other appliances to ensure safety.  I would assume that this also the same for home owners and social housing renters.

Saying that, I am now a social housing tenant and each year I get the annual gas check.  They only check the boiler and do a "visual inspection" of my cooker.

elsien

A housing association is not going to be setting up gas safety checks due to boredom. 

bagand96

Your landlord is legally required to perform an annual Gas Safety Inspection.  It is likely your tenancy agreement will state you must provide access to the property for such activities.

A safety check would have been done when the new boiler was installed and commissioned.  Maybe that wasn't sufficient for the Gas Safety Certificate, maybe it wasn't added to the records, or paperwork has gone missing or never made it back to the landlord.  Who knows.  

[Deleted User]

 Personally, I wouldn’t get too hot under the collar about something that I was not paying for. Perhaps concern has been expressed about the quality of recent installations and the Landlord wants independent assurance that the work has been carried out to the required building standard.

Three years ago, I moved into a new build property which has a 7kW EV charging point in the garage. The electrical work was done by an electrical sub-contractor with the appropriate NICEIC certificates. I wasn’t happy that the charging point had been installed properly as it had been added to an existing 32 amp ring main. The developer backed his sub-contractor (as one would expect) so I called in a charging point installer to review the installation. His report was damning. Fitting the charging point to a ring main is forbidden as it has to be on a separate radial circuit; the wiring to the garage was not properly sized for the load, and earth and RCD protection was inadequate. 

james_smitha

[Deleted User] said:

 Personally, I wouldn’t get too hot under the collar about something that I was not paying for. Perhaps concern has been expressed about the quality of recent installations and the Landlord wants independent assurance that the work has been carried out to the required building standard.

Three years ago, I moved into a new build property which has a 7kW EV charging point in the garage. The electrical work was done by an electrical sub-contractor with the appropriate NICEIC certificates. I wasn’t happy that the charging point had been installed properly as it had been added to an existing 32 amp ring main. The developer backed his sub-contractor (as one would expect) so I called in a charging point installer to review the installation. His report was damning. Fitting the charging point to a ring main is forbidden as it has to be on a separate radial circuit; the wiring to the garage was not properly sized for the load, and earth and RCD protection was inadequate. 

I'm not against safety checks in general, the thing is they are called 'yearly' yet my experience is that they are done six monthly if they can get away with it.

Other repairs, the land lords just fib through their back teeth. Surely all repairs should be done. Missing gates in parameter walls are not keeping undesireables out, that they should. Weeds near the shared washing lines are never touched, yet grass near by is, both are coloured green

[Deleted User]

james_smitha said:

[Deleted User] said:

 Personally, I wouldn’t get too hot under the collar about something that I was not paying for. Perhaps concern has been expressed about the quality of recent installations and the Landlord wants independent assurance that the work has been carried out to the required building standard.

Three years ago, I moved into a new build property which has a 7kW EV charging point in the garage. The electrical work was done by an electrical sub-contractor with the appropriate NICEIC certificates. I wasn’t happy that the charging point had been installed properly as it had been added to an existing 32 amp ring main. The developer backed his sub-contractor (as one would expect) so I called in a charging point installer to review the installation. His report was damning. Fitting the charging point to a ring main is forbidden as it has to be on a separate radial circuit; the wiring to the garage was not properly sized for the load, and earth and RCD protection was inadequate. 

I'm not against safety checks in general, the thing is they are called 'yearly' yet my experience is that they are done six monthly if they can get away with it.

Other repairs, the land lords just fib through their back teeth. Surely all repairs should be done. Missing gates in parameter walls are not keeping undesireables out, that they should. Weeds near the shared washing lines are never touched, yet grass near by is, both are coloured green

I am not sure that an energy forum is the right place to comment on a landlord’s obligations outwith mandatory energy safety checks. There are good and bad landlords in both the public and private sectors. Perhaps those sharing the washing lines could have a ‘meet and greet’ and remove the weeds at the same time.

Verdigris

Perhaps those sharing the washing lines could have a ‘meet and greet’ and remove the weeds at the same time.

I supect the grounds maintenance people are instructed not to strim when there is washing on the lines, for the prevention of damages claims arising from washing being soiled.

There are good and bad landlords in both the public and private sectors.

I have a private landlord and I have 4 inspections a year. Gas safety, PAT test on washing machine plus 6-monthly general inspections. I don't resent them and I welcome the improvements, such as LED lighting in the bathroom and porch, CO monitor fitted, and having the switchgear in the consumer unit brought up to the latest standard, even though the house is well under 20 years old.