OIle boiler commisioning

[G&M]

Well I've installed the oil tank, boiler and large central heating system. Many thanks to all who gave really useful advice on aspects of it.

So last question :

It appears to run well. It's a Grant BoilerHouse 90 non-condensing as the existing septic tank is near a stream feeding a reservoir for a local village so any failure of the septic tank action due to the condensate could quite literally have been fatal so I'll live with the higher fuel costs.

Should I commision it myself by hiring the appropriate gear or get an OFTEC registered person to do so ? If I do it myself, how awkward or probing is the BCO likely to be ? If an OFTEC person, how long should it take/much should it cost ?

Many thanks

[Grunff]

When I installed ours (a Grant Euroflame) commissioning was done for free by a local Grant engineer. All part of the purchase price I was told. This was about 2.5 years ago.

[G&M]

Hmm. Mine's a Euroflame as well but no mention of an engineer. I'll phone them and ask.

[John]

If you commission it yourself you will have to get the work inspected by your local BCO who, depending on your area may simply tell you the easiest way round it is to have the boiler commissioned by an OFTEC registered technician.

Well the commissioning technician will have to be certain ALL the new installation, oil tank, pipework, firestopping, location, ventilation, wiring, bonding, controls, interlocks, etc. complies with current regs so it very much depends on the actual site as to how long he or she will be engaged in checking and testing. The boiler firing commissioning is only part of the job. You are probably looking at between half a day and a full day plus use of test equipment so think in terms of eighty to one-fifty pounds. South Eastern urban areas may cost more appropriately

HTH

[Grunff]

Really? The engineer who commissioned ours spent maybe an hour here. He commissions oil boilers all the time.

[G&M]

Conversely if I got a guy for a whole day for 150 quid I wouldn't object. The quotes I got for installing the tank and boiler worked out at about 450 per day at the time it took me to do the job, and I presume they would be faster at it.

[John]

He might commission the burner and trust the rest of the job is done correctly but anyone who takes the responsibility for an unknown installation done by an unknown ability installer and certifies it to be correct under building regs with their attendant basis in criminal law is either lucky or a fool. Its entirely possible to set up a burner in minutes but regarding the rest...............................

[G&M]

Which brings be back full circle - I presume I could set the burner up myself but should (or now even can ?) I get somebody to certify the system or should I ask the BCO to inspect it, in which case does he have the skills anyway ?

[Hugo Nebula]

On Wed, 12 May 2004 22:02:17 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named "G&M" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

As mentioned elsewhere, the BCO is only concerned with making sure the boiler is operating at peak efficiency. The requirement is given in AD 'L1', "Where the person giving the certificate has a recognised qualification, the certificate may be accepted by the building control body as evidence that the relevant requirements in Part L1 b) and d) have been complied with. If there is no relevant qualification, or if a suitably qualified certifier is not available, the person responsible for carrying out the work should nevertheless provide or obtain a written declaration of successful commissioning and make it available to the client and the building control body.

1.50 A suitable commissioning certificate would be the one published as part of the Benchmark30 Code of Practice for the Installation, Commissioning and Servicing of Central Heating Systems, a blank copy of which may be included with the boiler manufacturer?s installation instructions".

[G&M]

Don't suppose you'd fancy being around next time he visits to explain this limitation in his (presumed) powers.

How does this square with the statement that a BCO can bring in third parties to do testing of things ?

And far more importantly, what is going to happen when part P eventually arrives ? I wouldn't trust my BCO to wire a 13A plug, let alone pass comment on my work.

It is - I've filled a photocopy in and would like somebody to sign it off - hence the post.

[John]

SNIP

I suppose some councils may have BCOs qualified to commission an oil boiler but ours doesn't. I have done a few commission only jobs this year, a couple were by self installers who then asked OFTEC for names of local registered installers to commission for them. In both these cases various "other works" were required. The last one was for an installer who hasn't gone down the OFTEC Registration road although he was CORGI registered hence had a good grounding for systems as such. He did have the good sense to ask me before he started for the requirements to comply with the oil regs and no other works were needed.

[G&M]

Where are you based ? I'd pay well for this to be commissioned and signed off. The work, to the best of my knowledge (with a lot of reading of references provided by this group), meets all regulations but it's the legals that are causing the problem.

What is really annoying is I thought this might happen and asked five companies to quote for a full install but understandably none of them wanted to touch it because we are on a farm, the boiler had to go in an outbuilding with an asbestos roof, there were long runs to both the house one way and the oil tank in the other, plus numerous other annoyances which made it a very atypical job with a risk of overrun.