Ideal Isar HE24 + Corgi fitted badly - but how badly!??

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Hi,

All

just wanted some advice, I paid a CORGI to re-fit my Ideal Isar HE24 recently.

The next day I noticed it was leaking - some investigation, reading of manual etc reveal that he did not connect the condensation outlet or route it out of the building. While diagnosing this I discovered the following which I don't know if they are major problems which will require me to get him or another CORGI out to resolve:

He did not connect anything to the safety valve on the far right of the boiler - no discharge pipe etc - is this needed or 'optional' as he is implying?

He also connected the pressure gauge on the right hand side of the boiler whereas the manual shows it on the first inlet valve on the left hand side - does this mean water is flowing and returning round the boiler the wrong way? if so, is this a problem which must be corrected?

These above are probably mistakes which I would expect a DIY'er to make but I thought the whole point of being forced to pay a CORGI was that the job would be done right first time - probably quite important with something like a boiler!

Another worrying point is that within an hour or so of him installing the boiler I could smell gas - phoned him and told him and he said "Oh, I think I forgot to tighten the nut under the jig on the gas inlet valve" So obviously I tightened it.

I have turned the gas off at the mains now anyway because of the leaking condensate issue but before I turned it off I noticed there was still a slight smell of gas when I arrived this morning - (not living there so did not notice it overnight) - I assumed I had not tightened the nut properly - but just noticed that he seems to have also started to cut the main 22mm gas main, then changed his mind - but it seems like the cut might have been deep enough to make a pin-hole right through allowing gas to leak out!

Any feedback on this installation - the guy was friendly, helpful and offered good value for money, and I have not raised all the problems with him yet - but now I am thinking he could be a danger to people's health and perhaps I should report him to CORGI rather than getting him to come and resolve things? If I did this would CORGI send someone out to fix it properly - and would this be at my expense or theirs?

TIA for any feedback, advice
 
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If you can smell gas you should call national grid, if he has caused a leak of gas into your property national grid will probably proceed with a RIDDOR. When your engineer finds out about this I suspect he will come back and sort your problems a bit quicker ;)
once its done, don't use him again, the prv should terminate outside, there is no option, and the condense should discharge to a drain, no option. Sounds like he got the flow and return iso valves mixed up, but this won't matter, don't worry about this. worry about the gas leaking, thats a disgrace.
 
Ok, thanks. I will call him in the morning and ask him to put it right by Monday or will report him to CORGI and call TRANSCO about the leak. (doesn't leak with gas off at the mains - but might turn it back on and stick some fairy liquid over where I think its leaking to see if it is before I cause him unecessary problems).

As another point - should the CORGI be responsible for connecting the Danfoss control panel as he didnt have a clue and said that was Part P not Part L so not his area - he didn't seem to know how to do it anyway so I have had a go as am doing the electrics myself and getting BCO to inspect.

I also thought he would do extraneous earth bonding for the new main gas pipe where it came in from the meter but he didn't and he didn't do any supplementary earth bonding on any of the inlet valves which there were before - is this all the remit of a spark or should the CORGI have handled this?

Thanks again.
 
Oh dear, did you check his corgi credentials, did he show you his card, if you now his name you can check on the corgi website. Also you mention refit of boiler, why was it removed or was it a used appliance being installed. I question the above because there are some basic checks that need to be done -they are a requirement, and they would have found a gas leak...
 
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michele5041 - rehanging the boiler in a new location because of work done to the house - the wall the boiler used to be on is no longer there.

He did supply a CORGI number on his advert - but I have to admit I did not cross check it on the CORGI website - or ask for his card on arrival - trust is a dangerous thing I guess!

He did supply the safety certs and things though - or are they as easy to get hold of as fake MOT certs!?

When he arrived meter was off and there was no pipework connected to the meter - no gas appliances etc. part of his job was to run the 22mm pipework all the way back to the gas meter as the old route was longwinded (a bit like my posts!) and had been disconnected several months ago. He said he tested the line once he had run the pipework (but I guess that would have made the loose nut on the gas inlet valve flag up) if not the possible nick in the newly installed pipework.
 
unfortunatly being corgi registered does not mean you re a good engineer! as we all know it registers your competency, and maybe not your skills as an engineer, sounds like the guy was lazy, simple checks that should ve been done before he left, now what i would say is get him back and point out what you have found, if hes good and this was just a lapse then he should be full of apologys and fix all the issues, if hes unhelpful i d go to corgi, give the fella a chance, we all make mistakes from time to time, granted his sound a bit dodgy but see what he says, any sign he trys to fob you off report him!
 
Sadly from what you have posted I think you have been right royally shafted by an incompetent, unregistered cowboy :mad:

I would call out NG asap and let them test the installation for leaks.

If you tightened the 'gas nut' how would you know there were still no further leaks? He obviously never carried out a tightness test.

As for your other points, they all have been left incorrect and dangerous. The blokes an idiot. Call CORGI tomorrow and ask for an inspection. Get him nicked for being un-registered etc.
 
i forgot you said about the 'gas-nut' now that is irresponsable, give your emergency provider a ring and get the system checked for leaks as dave said, not tightness testing! the guy should get investigated for that!
 
Tap in his corgi no in the corgi website to check. This will tell you if he is registered or you have had an illegal install. Ditto Gas4you. Major Basic Errors leading to incompetence.
 
Thanks - pendulum is swinging a bit - some saying give him a chance - which I am inclined to do - just checked on CORGI site and he is registered/active and ex British Gas.

When i called him about the water leaking out of boiler this morning and worked out it was the condensate outlet leaking he essentially blamed me saying "I did ask you if anything else was connected other than cold in, hot feed and flow and return" - surely his job is to know what should be connected not mine... plus he asked that in relation to the discharge valve not the condesate outlet...

he did call me this afternoon to ask if I had fixed it - I said - no but I had ordered a new part for connecting between condensate outlet and the S-trap. He then said "yeah, well I asked you if anything else needed to be connected - I don't know about these boilers but if it has a condesate outlet its a condensing boiler - you should have told me, only time I do anything with these is rip them out and throw them away - they are crap"

Pendulum swigning for me now too as although friendly and cheap I think I would have rather paid the extra £200 for the next best quote!
 
guy sounds a bit dodge, mind you he has a point about the boiler (sorry) makes you wonder what the hell he is doing moving a boiler he knows nothing about, alarm bells starting to ring..........
 
Michele: Yeah, partly my fault as I disconnected the boiler about 4 months ago and took it off the wall to knock wall down as part of an extension - then I found out that CORGI rules applied to disconnecting the boiler aswell as connecting it - so I didn't help matters by giving the guy a bag full of valves, flue fixings and so, on. But nontheless when I spoke over phone to book him to come out I gave him the Boiler make and model and he said "it doesn't really matter what make and model it is"...

well I think I will call him, tell him to come and sort it out and if he does in a timely fashion then let sleeping dogs lie I guess. Otherwise will report him to CORGI. OR should I be reporting him for the benefit of his next customer that he doesn't tighten gas inlet valve for who may not know its not right (ie my mother's partner has no sense of smell - if he had done the job there it would have been bad news).
 
The words manufactures instructions spring to mind. if he'd have had them to hand, was half competent then he should have been able to figure out what went where.are you sure the corgi no he gave you is his and hes not cloned it ?. I would not expect that amount of incompetence from a trainee let alone a qualified engineer? yes we can all make mistakes but if hes left a gas leak, period no excuses no exceptions, he has breached the GSIUR by obviously failing to do a tightness test , other things, has he reconnected the flue correctly is the boiler casings refitted correctly, has he checked the gas pressure to the burner is the pipe work sized correctly, etc etc etc need I go on. My advise would be turn off the gas ring your gas supplier then get the boiler checked out for YOUR OWN safety !
 
Ok, thanks everyone - have remembered a few more things he did 'wrong' like only fitted the main wallplate/hanging bracket - not the second one which slots in lower down the main plate - he also decided to drill new holes in the horseshoe thing which connects flue to boiler and screw them into top of boiler - rather than asking me to go and buy the appropriate screw to fit it through the proper hole. Also he did not fit the clip things to the valves (not sure how important they are). I thinkm sum total is phone CORGI tomorrow - let them know everything he has done and let them decide.

I checked his CORGI number and it corresponds to the name he gave me - advertises under and to the address on his emails... his assistant who ran the gas pipe probably wasn't a CORGI though - and I guess he should have been? or maybe a trainee is allowed to do that?

Anyway, thanks everyone - at least I know I'm not jumping the gun by reporting him.
 
Checking a Corgi number against the register doesn't prove the engineer giving you the number is that RGI. There have been loads of cases where engineers reg numbers have been used by some crook to rip people off.
Ask for his card.
 

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