Gas/Heating Regulations

[griffta1]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me exactly what the regulations are in terms of installing your own central heating.

I'm a competent diyer and so installing such a system does not pose a problem.

I want to ensure that my heating complys to the law for safety. I propose to install all of the radiators, hang the boiler and connect to 'wet' pipework, however I will ask a CORGI registered installer to fit the gas connection and fit the flu... is this okay?

If so, can anyone advise me on how much i'm likely to pay to have a CORGI installer do this work?

Matt.

 

[ChrisR]

You can do your heating circuit but don't get the boiler out of the box. Unless you arrange it with a corgi first..

 

[Paul Barker]

Get your corgi man to agree a boiler position with you before you even buy the boiler. Do as much as he's comfortable with you doing.

 

[slippyr4]

I just did similar.

I installed a cold water tank, hot water cylinder, all (water) pipework, radiators, control valves & electrics.

I ran flow and return pipes into the downstairs toilet (where the boiler was to go) and the wiring up to an FCU in the downstairs toilet.


My plumber ran shiny new gas pipework all the way from the meter to the new boiler location, supplied and fitted the boiler, and attached it to my flow/return pipework and electrics. He also let me use his powerflushing machine to pre-clean my system whilst he was working on the boiler. He then helped me commision the system.

The total charged for this including vat was just shy of £1500.

He did give me the option of running the gas pipe myself (he told me what route he found acceptable, where it would need sleeving, etc). If i'd done this he would have tested the pipework before connecting it. However, partly due to me running out of time, and partly to me not wanting the liability for leaky gas pipe, I decided to let him do the gas pipe himself. It took him about 2 hours, it would have taken me 2 days.

There's not much cost saving to be had in hanging the boiler yourself - thats such a small part of the boiler install it wouldn't take the plumber long anyway, and it's part of their responsibility under corgi things.

-----------------------------

edited to add:-

Plumber supplied the boiler himself- basically, he makes money on the boiler, but then consequently charged me less for his time.

 

[ChrisR]

Just goes to show it can be done to mutual advantage when people are sensible.

THis bit I would say isn't true though:

Plumber supplied the boiler himself- basically, he makes money on the boiler, but then consequently charged me less for his time.

You can buy the boiler for about the same as he can. Say it cost £800. If you'd supplied it, he'd still have wanted £700.
Whatever the figure is, it might sound a lot for a day's work, but if you had to go through the same hoops to be able to do the job, you'd want a similar amount.

Others - Remember that if your plumber is vat registered, he can get the vat back on the boiler, so it certainly isn't worth you buying it.

 

[joe-90]

Say it cost £800. If you'd supplied it, he'd still have wanted £700.
Whatever the figure is, it might sound a lot for a day's work, but if you had to go through the same hoops to be able to do the job, you'd want a similar amount.

A consultant surgeon doesn't earn that. I dare say that the surgeon goes through more hoops than you do. Should be more like £200.



joe

 

[griffta1]

[/quote]

A consultant surgeon doesn't earn that. I dare say that the surgeon goes through more hoops than you do. Should be more like £200.



joe[/quote]

Nice one joe-90, i agree! i recon it's a rip of, but there is greater demand than there are CORGI fitters!.. captive market, although i recon that CORGI are ripping people off too!

 

[Gasman1015]

Typical A**eh**e, Don't mind asking for free advice though.

 

[corgiman]

not this old chest nut

If consultant surgeons probably do earn that and a bit more

CORGI installers do not have a captive market CORGI Itself does

Look if you are to short of money to afford to have a proper job done the the DHSS does do grant schemes

I would never ever ever commission a boiler for a diyer, or put my name to the cheap tat that gets sold at the sheds

Best of luck mate maybe you will find a poor shcmuck who will let you do the work and then make it all nice a legal for your home sellers pack Aund put up with you blaming him for everytime the POS boiler you brought breaksdown, and come out free of charge to repair it, because after all it was him that said that your work was OK so he should come out free to repair it.

The sooner the Government stops pussy footing about and stops people buying Gas appliances AND stops the monopoly that Is corgi the better

 

[ollski]

Say it cost £800. If you'd supplied it, he'd still have wanted £700.
Whatever the figure is, it might sound a lot for a day's work, but if you had to go through the same hoops to be able to do the job, you'd want a similar amount.

A consultant surgeon doesn't earn that. I dare say that the surgeon goes through more hoops than you do. Should be more like £200.



joe

So what?, why would you want to pay that much more to get a consultant surgeon to install your boiler?....he probably won't even be corgi registered.

 

[slippyr4]

THis bit I would say isn't true though:

Plumber supplied the boiler himself- basically, he makes money on the boiler, but then consequently charged me less for his time.

nah, it's true, we discussed it. Perhaps I shouldn't have said "charged less", as opposed to "would have charged more". He had his own price sheet for boilers (which were pretty darned similar to the Worcester pages out of the plumb center catalogue). I said that I could get the boiler cheaper, and he told me that yes, his trade discount is part of his markup, part of his fee, so if i got the boiler he'd need to make the money up elsewhere- cos it makes no odds to him really.

Additionally, some scheme through Worcester got me an extra year's warranty, and he is giving me a free service next year.

At the end of the day, my plumber isn't the cheapest, and he doesn't claim to be. But it's worth paying for someone who has a good reputation and who you trust.

 

[*rab*]

A consultant surgeon doesn't earn that. I dare say that the surgeon goes through more hoops than you do. Should be more like £200.



joe

Supply and demand, innit? If he was the only man in the world who could do something that people needed - he could happily charge thousands for a days work. That's why it costs 50p for a little mars bar at the petrol station - who else you going to go to at 2am when you've got the munchies?

 

[joe-90]

The difference is that a surgeon needs skill (12 years in the training).

Any competent DIYer can install a boiler - you just follow the instructions.

It certainly isn't rocket science. Can anyone tell me which bit is difficult?

If I want gas work doing my first question is "What's your hourly rate?" Anything over £40 - forget it.


joe

 

[Gasman1015]

Well you think you know it all Joe but I seem to remember you had to call someone in to fix your own boiler, it's not rocket science either.

 

[Softus]

Others - Remember that if your plumber is vat registered, he can get the vat back on the boiler, so it certainly isn't worth you buying it.

I'm confused by this Chris - how does that work? Surely even if the plumber gets the VAT back then he still has to charge VAT to the customer, so how does the customer gain?