Gas safety-flue flow test

marc3 · 18 May 2018 at 12:31AM

i post as a landlord who has had a gas fire necessarily (i think ) capped .

slightly odd situation as fire is under 2 years old and 3 months ago has a gas safety cert issued .
i accept things can go wrong 'overnight' ,and better safe than sorry;where our tenant has subsequently got his own gas engineer to check the work of our appointed gas engineer -weird-but entitled to do so ,and his gas engineer has failed the gas fire on fuel flow test .

as i say-better safe than sorry-but a bit annoying where his engineer 'mate ' has immediately capped the fire ,and left it for me to get sorted .

fair enough-as i say -no risks -,but i did wonder if there are 'grades of failure' and whether assuming something is not right with the fire-a failed fuel flow test -does require an immediate capping of the fire ,or whether the tenants engineer has taken this a step beyond what he is entitled/legally obliged to do .

any gas engineers out there who know the facts' on what the procedure is and in reality-what a failed fuel flow test actually means in reality ?

System · 18 May 2018 at 9:09AM

Having just had two gas fires serviced and checked prior to a sale of my property, my limited understanding is that the smoke test is a simple pass/fail:

Smoke test 2 (draw test) - All doors and windows in the room served by the flue should be closed. The flue should first be warmed to establish a draught. A suitable smoke testing pellet is ignited at the base of the flue or in the intended position of the appliance, so that the smoke is drawn into the flue with the rising draught. (If the pellets are placed in a recess at the base of the flue, the opening between the room and the recess should be partially closed such as with a board, but so as to leave an air entry gap of about 25mm at the bottom). Smoke should be seen to issue freely from the flue outlet or terminal and not to spill back into the room. There should be no significant leakage of smoke from the length of the chimney inside or outside of the building.

Other than cap the gas supply to the fire that has failed the test, I am not sure what else could be done? The question that I would asking is 'what has changed'? That said, if a GSR engineer repeats the test and awards a Pass then I might be asking the tenant to re-imburse me for the cost on the basis that the previous test wasn't carried out properly.

House_Martin · 18 May 2018 at 9:23AM

I had a gas safe man round to do a safety check for a house sale I was involved with. Initially the guy held the smoke making thing in slightly the wrong place on the fireplace and it failed the draw test. He then remembered there should be a correct position to hold it . It then passed with flying colours.
Apart from a Jackdaws nest in the chimney or there is leakage internally there is not much to go wrong with a chimney
OP, have a try yourself and hold the smoke making stick in various places or make enquiries where you have to hold it for a correct test. I think it was something like 12 o clock near the top slightly inside the chimney
Sometimes it could just be the atmospheric conditions which make the flue draw too slowly on occasions.

marc3 · 19 May 2018 at 1:18PM

Thanks for replies-interesting .

does anyone know though that if it does fail whether it is mandatory to cut off there and then .

Also -when doing a GSC in a property, can it be isolated one appliance ,and not another.
for example -i am having this fire re-checked by my engineer ,but there is also a gas cooker in a different room in the property which was passed three months ago.
does my engineer need to do both items, or can it be isolated to the item that has failed .(a bit like a car mot-if one item fails-you don't have the whole car re-checked )

bwff · 19 May 2018 at 1:27PM

marc3 wrote: »

Thanks for replies-interesting .

does anyone know though that if it does fail whether it is mandatory to cut off there and then .

Also -when doing a GSC in a property, can it be isolated one appliance ,and not another.
for example -i am having this fire re-checked by my engineer ,but there is also a gas cooker in a different room in the property which was passed three months ago.
does my engineer need to do both items, or can it be isolated to the item that has failed .(a bit like a car mot-if one item fails-you don't have the whole car re-checked )

If a gas appliance is deemed dangerous, it should be isolated and a label applied saying do not use.

As a responsible landlord, would you really want to have your tenants' lives put at risk for any period at all? :eek:
In your OP, were kept repeating how it was "better safe than sorry"
Were you telling the truth then?

Your suitably qualified gas engineer may be able to make good the situation, and then he would be permitted to remove the label and reconnect the appliance.

Your gas safe registered engineer will advise you on how best to remedy the situation, in particular to the paperwork side.

Please speak with him/her over this safety (and possibly legal) issue, rather than solicit responses from anonymous users on the internet.

Gas safety-flue flow test

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