boiler repairs

[chrishutt]

as soon as you have to open the casing of the boiler you have to be corgi registered ..........if you find you have to open the case for testing a corgi engineer should be at hand to make sure the appliance is left in safe working order!

Not true for the outer casing of most boilers, but true or the combustion chamber casing. There are many repairs on boilers (like replacing diaphragms) that can be done without interfering with any aspect of the gas combustion operation and for which I would not consider it necessary to be a Registered Gas Installer, although it is of course necessary to be competent.

 

[Softus]

chrishutt has put his view most succintly, and it's one that's shared by at least one person at CORGI, who told me the same thing when I telephoned.

This is why I've said that CORGI tell different people different things, and also pointed out that CORGI is not the authority on the relevant legislation, merely an authenticating and registering body.

 

[ChrisR]

as soon as you have to open the casing of the boiler you have to be corgi registered

......

Not true for the outer casing of most boilers,

True (that it isn't true) for most, but it definitely is for some, so our sparky has to have a list of which boilers he can open and which he can't. Not very likely. And not a very good basis on which to work.

 

[Agile]

The real problem is that a non registered and inexperienced person will just not know what he can do and what he should not be doing. He is therefore at risk of doing something which could be dangerous.

I have no problem in sending someone non registered to do a repair on a diverter valve as long as they have been trained specifically on that model so that they already know how to open the boiler and what to touch and not touch.

Tony

 

[Softus]

The real problem is that a non registered and inexperienced person will just not know what he can do and what he should not be doing. He is therefore at risk of doing something which could be dangerous.

For what it's worth, I completely agree that this is the prime concern - the "unconscious incompetence" phenomenon, whereby someone who isn't specifically trained doesn't know how much they don't know, and could work away being careful and competent without realising, for example, that they've disturbed a connection to a safety component, or nudged a gas joint without later doing a tightness test, or pushed an obstruction into a flue or airway, or countless other acts of human error that in other circumstances would be innocuous.

I recognise the risk, which is why I have no wish to encourage novices to work on boilers when they don't know what they're doing, and why I've never encouraged anyone to do that. What I have done, as have others, is open some people's eyes to the legislation so instead of just being scared away from touching a boiler, in the incorrect belief that it's illegal, they can be aware of the real physical risk and make an informed decision.

If you noticed from the Water Systems debacle, wherein he changed from "DIY is legal" to "competent DIY is legal" without admitting that he was wrong, I was dead against what he was advocating.

If you could look past the person you appear to think I am, i.e. no more than an irritant and a hazard, you might well realise that I have the same concerns that you do.