Is it illegal to fit a boiler yourself

[Mr Sandman]

I fitted my last one, can i still fit my own?

Ta

Steve

[Jimbo /p]

go on take a chance...nobody will find out until there is an explosion .......

[Tim+]

Non sequitur. Corgi registered does not equal competence. Corgi registration just mean that you had paid your registration fee.

I doubt that GasSafe is much different.

Correct and sensible.

Tim

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sadly, Corgi (and the current Gas Safe) registration has never been a guarantee of competence. They don't require an applicant to demonstrate this.

I'd hope anyone attempting plumbing of any sort would be competent. And if the OP installed his previous boiler with no problems, he likely is.

And some might charge a fortune for this.

How to you prove something you've said there is no definition of?

But most would be very careful when doing gas work in their own house. Self preservation is a powerful instinct. A problem is far more likely with cowboy installers.

[Lee]

Given most people can smell gas when it leaks and self-preservation would surely kick in, I suspect CO poisoning is a more salient risk...

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

When I was Corgi registered this bloke came out and inspected one of my jobs. However, this was 42 years ago .........................ARGGGGGGGGG!

[Martin Brown]

And have a certain minimum level of experience surely.

Though what is certain is that if the installation blows the house to tiny bits your insurance will not pay out if it was a DIY bodge job. A house not far from here was spectacularly destroyed this way by a dodgy DIY gas CH installation. The burnt out blackened shell stood by the roadside as testament to this folly for years afterwards.

The challenge is in being able to tell if your "competent" person according to the official register is in fact competent/diligent or is in fact quietly cutting corners to move on to his next paying job.

[NY]

It's interesting how everyone has immediately assumed that it's a gas boiler rather than an oil-fired one and hence is making references to Corgi registration.

When we had our oil boiler replaced, the man who fitted it (who presented us with the oil equivalent of Corgi registration documents) said that he had to take exams every year to prove that he was familiar with current legislation and that occasionally he had to have his work checked by an official from the registration body to prove that he was putting his theoretical knowledge into practice.

I'd expect the same to be true of Corgi - or the organisation that has replaced it: that to remain a member, you have to demonstrate your familiarity with current regs every so often.

[ARW]

springs to mind as that is where I used to live (not that house but that village).

[Jimbo /p]

[ARW]

So who certified the oil fired boilers when Corgi existed?

[NY]

He also told us that the new expansion vessel (to prevent thermal expansion of the hot water causing a rise in water pressure in the closed system) that we'd had fitted to our old boiler a few months before it had failed and needed replacing, was woefully small for the number of radiators and volume of water circulating in the system - by a factor of about 10: we'd had a 2.5 litre vessel fitted within the boiler cabinet (lie-for-like replacement of one that had ruptured) whereas we really needed a 25 litre vessel. He also said that the new oil tank that we'd had fitted (again, like for like replacement of one that was rusting and was in danger of perforating) contravened several rules about placement (close to buildings etc) but that he was not legally bound to report that so we left well alone. Both the oil tank and expansion vessel were fitted by a well-known local company which supplies heating oil and does boiler repairs - not a good advert for them, and now we only use them to supply oil and get our new boiler serviced by the guy that fitted it.

[NY]

A good question. Did Corgi certify non-gas boilers as well as gas ones? Were they also familiar with oil-related regulations and plumbing regulations such as size of expansion vessel (in lieu of header tank to accommodate expansion)?

[dennis]

Its the company that is gassafe, individual fitters are not. You could get a fitter that has never fitted the type of boiler you have and still have it signed off by "gassafe".

[John Rumm]

OFTEC, as is still the case...

HETAS for solid fuel.

[harry]

ISTR there are issues if you fit a boiler for someone else. (ie for money) But there are no actual laws to stop you fitting your own. All revolves around competency as others have said. ISTR there is a course wouldbe gas safe fitters go on but it's a one off event.

The cunning thing to do if you want it checked out is ask someone to do a routine maintenance on it after a few months.

Or say you have just moved in and want it checked out.

[Brian-Gaff]

Hmm, I've known quite a few who have done this in years gone by. Most did have friends who could inspect their work on the gas side though. Gas should not be trifled with, which is why I have none in my current house! Brian

[0345.86.86.888]

Absolutely.

All this twaddle about "ooohhhh you won't sell your house if the lawyers.... not signed off blah blah blah"

If someone won't buy your house because they want a shitificate for everything you simply tell the estate agent you're taking it off the market or that you refuse to sell to said purchaser.

If I saw a house I liked I'd buy it. Who gives a fig about whether it's been done to a particular "standard". Anyone with an ounce of sense can see if something right or wrong and as you say, simply checking something out and getting it fixed AFTER it's been purchased.

"oh no I can't buy your house because you don't have an incompetence tick sheet for your 1970's gas fire/boiler"

I pulled out a solid fuel parkray stove in my first house and fitted a "living flame" effect fireplace with back boiler. Gas and all. Just asked a local gas fitter to give it the once over.

Simple.

:)

[johno]

Well, I 'fitted' my boiler in my last house, in so far as that I core drilled the wall, fitted the back plate and hung the boiler. I connected the water side of things too. But that's as far as I went. Gas and electrical I left to a registered heating engineer who did his bit and obviously checked all was as it should be. Illegal, what I did?

Jonno

[John Rumm]

That's certainly a a legit way if you can find a registered fitter happy to work like that. Many "one man band" fitters may be less keen. Small firms with a few staff are more likely to be open to it, since its often they way they work anyway (keep one bod trained up and certified to the eyebrows, who then checks and signs off the work of the staff doing the actual work)