Ex. Heating Fitter DIY heating....Gas Regs??? (sorry, long!)

[netaheat]

Hi There,
Many years ago, I worked as a heating fitter; domestic and some light industrial; as an employee of (various) heating contractors.
I then got fed up with lumping gear around building sites and moved onto service/repair and am now 'out of the game' and 'off the tools'.
As you may gather from my screen name, this was in the days when the NetaHeat MKIIF was king!
I now need to install my own CH in my own house, and intend to DIY.
I still have most of the tools, tho' no longer a Hilmor bender or blowtorch.
No problem.
My question is; while I consider myself 'competant' to design and install my CH, (I still have the Mears calc with red sleeve and booklet I bought new from OBC-now Plumbcenter-in 1983!!!) as I have done many times in the past, where do I stand on gas regs?
I have done lots of research on the net, and from what I can gather, if I connect the gas myself, to my own CH boiler in my own house, I am OK.
This statement is based on the "..as long as the work is not done for payment/favour/exchange, etc...." that I have read.
I will, ofcourse carry out a 1 Bar drop test, stick to the boiler Mfrs. set up instructions, etc. to the letter. (I still have my old manometer to set up burner pressure)

All help greatly appreciated.

BTW, I would gladly pay a CORGI engineer to make the final connection and/or commission; however I understand most are (understandably) unhappy to put their name to a DIY system

 

[oilman]

I can't comment on the "not for payment" aspect, though it's your house insurance which is likely to give the most problems if you need to claim.

There is no question of any registered "competent person" putting their name to a diy system as they're not allowed to do it. The competency allows them only to self-certify their work, not someone elses. The way the diy work is done is to apply to the building control department for approval. They will probably ask for a corgi registered guy to inspect it, but it's not the corgi registered guy's remit to inspect someone elses work.

All you need is a document signed by the building control department that the installation meets the building regs, then a corgi guy can commission the installation and sign for his part of the work, and is not responsible for yours.

 

[kev turner]

Where did you get 1 bar from...................

Any New installation pipework is 0 mBar drop.

Existing installation is 4mBar drop With appliances connected with a U6 meter

8mBar drop with a E6 meter existing installation as long as there is no smell of gas.

Stick to 0mBar like i do, you can't go wrong

The regs have changed so much,I know,i have just redone my ACS

 

[AlanE]

Gas regulations require any person (including DIY) to be competent.

unfortunatly netaheat has hit the nail on the head with regard to competency. He says he "while I consider myself 'competent' " (as does many a diy'er) he has not had to PROVE his competency as we registered installers have.

The big question is whilst HE considers HIMSELF competent - is he??? Against which standard?

Alan

 

[COG]

As you said regarding competence you should be ok unless you have been previously proven incompetent . Most manufacturers offer a chargeable commission for there appliance and if not I cant see why you cant get someone to test and commission your installation ,at a price ,.I assume the one bar quote was a spell of bad memory, don't think i've seen a U gauge that would go up to that. Any new installation is now any permissable drop ,a permissable drop is 0.25 mbar, thats because more people are using digital manometers now, inc me, thats why i checked.

 

[oilman]

......he has not had to PROVE his competency as we registered installers have.

Unfortunately the competency assessments are (as with many industrial "qualifications" ), just an acknowledgement that the competent person has been formally told what they should be doing. This is confirmed when you have to answer a question with the wrong answer to get the points for answering it correctly.

 

[netaheat]

Hi Chaps,
Many thanks for your replies, some interesting thoughts........
I have found somewhere on the net, that if you are carrying out gas work for payment, you have to be corgi reg.
I consider myself 'competant' as I am able to install a boiler according to the manufacturer's requirements and connect pipework and leak test.
Obviously, I'm not as up on the regs as you guys (hence the question) the last install I did was 1990.
BTW the 1 bar test came from my boss (of many years back)
As a lot of the work we did was newbuild and refurb flats, which as a consequence would have 22mm run from, possibly the basement (meter room) to the 5th floor, he insisited we did a 1 bar air test on the carcass only (i.e. pipe capped at all outlets-no connection to any appliance or meter) as you may have 10-20 flats this was a lot of pipe which would often be covered over in riser cupboards, etc. and inaccessible after internal fitout.