Landlord certificate question

[Happyplumber]

That sticking FGA in and making note of the readings is not a service,British Gas were prosecuted for this.Its now called an "Annual Safety check" The flue gas analyser is there to help the engineer,but a service is what the manufacturer recommends As written down in the installation and servicing manual

 

[BenHarrison]

He did stick a probe in the flue outlet, but he was there about 40 minutes, did things at the meter, checked things on the boiler, brushed burner/something out inside and checked inside. Then he checked the casing after (round the edge & back) with a lighted pen type thing.

 

[Gasman28]

Landlord Inspection = an inspection of Appliances to ensure that flues and ventilation are effective, that the appliances are burning the correct amount of fuel, the safety devices work and that the gas installation is gas tight and that a electrical earth bond is correctly fitted there is no pass or fail - just a report, however if there are serious problems these will be listed on an Advice/Warning notice and depending on the severity part of OR the whole installation may be disconnected.
Not required by law on a CP12, but always advisable

Service = A dismantling cleaning and checking of appliance components as listed in the manufacturers requirements for maintenance also a Flue gas Analyser is used to check the products of combustion and allow the engineer to trim the combustion settings if required

 

[chapeau]

If something did go wrong with the cooker for eg and the tenants complained of fumes/monoxide would I be liable still?

Basically, If the gas chappy gives you a safety certificate on the Monday and your tenants die of carbon monoxide poisoning on the Wednesday then you can sleep at night and the gas chappy will be sweating.

If six months later your tenant tells you he smells fumes, you do nothing, and a week later they die of carbon monoxide poisoning, then you should start sweating ( though I am sure the gas chappy will also get a call but if his records are ok then he will probably be fine).

If you immediately call a gas chappy, he goes round, says no problem, and you tenants die the next day of carbon monoxide poisoning - then the gas chappy should start sweating again and you can have a good kip.

 

[Axel]

It's a slightly grey area if, say, the landlord is on holiday for 2 weeks and for some reason the Zanzibar mobile network doesn't have a good signal...

 

[chapeau]

We take out an insurance policy which covers these emergency repairs and we give the tenants the 0800 phone number to call if there is a problem. Probably £40 a month per property which includes annual boiler service and gas certficiate. Covers anything that could go wrong in house and which needs fixing within 24 hours.

Insurance per month is cheaper than the commission the usless estate agency would charge to manage the place, and even then, we would have to pay for the repair anyway. Probably at mates' rates. That's the estate agent mates' rate, which includes a cut for them for passing on the business in the first place, and which gets charged to us.

So no hassle when we are on holiday, tenants are in charge of it, and we have already paid via insurance. Tenants get a better service as it cuts out the middleman, us. We get a better service as no hassle waiting around for people not to turn up when they said they would and things gets sorted quickly. That keeps tenants happy and good tenants worth their weight in gold so that is fine by us. £40 a month well spent.

 

[Axel]

Sounds great. You might perhaps give us a wee hint how to search for this particular Insurance company...?

 

[Alfredo]

As to whether a service MUST have a strip down, its never a bad plan, but Glow Worm has said that on its condensing models with a graphite seal they don't think it necessary to take out the burner for five years. When you do, you have to fit a new seal...about £30 or so.

On the other hand with a not too dissimilar burner arrangement Viessman want you to remove the burner and clean out the combustion chamber with a brush every year. As long as its in good nick, they are happy for their seal to be reused.

So in a word you need to check on the manufacturers instructions.

As to OP, whilst I'd not be rushing out to replace your gas cooker with an electric right now, when the time comes to replace it I'd strongly consider an electric as many Carbon Monoxide incidents involve cookers, and they are an obvious fire risk. Where a tenant is concerned putting in an electric cooker is a bit like playing a safety shot at snooker. Accidents are less likely.

Alfredo