Boiler installer left old flue hole open

[CountryFan]

Coming back to the issue of the flue position, would could the consequences be if it were determined to be too close to the soffits, eaves or window?

If products of combustion were to enter then illness or death dependent on certain factors.

Can that be rectified without having to do major work? Or could it mean the flue must be moved again, and consequently probably the boiler as well? Would the boiler need to be deactivated immediately or would there be time allowed to arrange to do remedial work? Would I have recourse to recover the costs of any remedial work from the installers?

Not really, it would mean the flue would need to be moved again. If no products of combustion are circulating then it’s not to standards, if they are then it’s immediately dangerous. Others and myself have pointed you towards contacting gas safe if you’re not happy with the work

 

[Peter Rabbit]

OK, to try and judge whether I should have a serious concern here, I looked up the relevant part of the manufacturer's instructions for the Vaillant ecoFIT pure 830: link p.13. Relevant points are as I understand it are:

B 1)	The dimension below eaves, balconies and car ports can be reduced to this value, as long as the flue terminal is extended to clear any overhang. External flue joints must be sealed with a suitable silicon sealant.	25mm
1)	There should be no ventilation/opening in the eaves within 300 mm distance of the terminal.
J	Above, below and either side of an opening door, air vent or opening window.	300mm
Q	Below eaves. Below gutters, pipe and drains.	200 mm 75 mm

As I understand it, point Q does not apply for the eaves if the flue terminal extends beyond any overhang.

I judged distances from my photo 1 and photo 2, assuming the bricks are close to being standard size.

From photo 1, I would estimate that the flue extends about half way up the top row of bricks. From photo 2, that the vents above are about in line with the top of the top row of bricks in photo 1. So the vertical distance is about half a brick, or 30mm, larger than 25mm (though plausible error could put it below).

The "1) condition" seems quite hard to judge. From photo 2, the flue looks to extend perhaps 1.5 brick lengths from the wall, so about 300mm. Then it's not 300mm from the vents.

For the vertical distance to the window, from photo 2, running along the horizontal lines in the wall and roof tiles and counting bricks looks to give at least 6 brick heights between them, so around 400mm.

The gutters look to terminate about one brick height above the level of the vents, ~1.5 bricks above the top of the flue, so ~90mm, >75mm.

So the distance to the underside of the vents looks to be a problem.

Does that seem like a fair assessment?

The Gas Safe site says "In the first instance, you should contact the business concerned and ask them to correct the problem." So unless I have misjudged and someone explains that things actually look fine, I will raise this with them in the morning and ask if they can demonstrate that the "1) condition" is satisfied, or if not how they plan to correct it. And also give them a final chance to correct the condensate pipe.