Gas regulations and rules. Bad experience with ideal

[Michaelsf90]

What a last few days I have just had. On monday someone from ideal come to fix a fault with the boiler. Hot water going hot and cold several times before warming up. He changed the burners. Previous to this someone else had changed a gas valve from ideal. Anyway Wednesday I noticed a slight smell of gas from the boiler

So turned the boiler off and reported it Thursday morning. Cadent come. At first detected nothing but once the valve on the boiler was turned on they detected gas and a 2mb pressure drop. So he capped the meter off. Ideal said they'd send someone the day after. I went mad. They sent someone that afternoon

Eventually this bloke comes. I'm at work when all this is going on and the wife is at home. Anyway she rings me and he says it wasnt the boiler it's your pipework. He detected a 0.4mb pressure drop with the boiler turned off. Wouldn't turn us back on. His form stated the pressure drop and customer can smell gas when we couldn't. But the pressure drop went from 2 with the boiler on to 0.4 without it on. We also have a gas fire which is capped off and a gas oven and hob which were connected. So someone at work told me your allowed a 4mb pressure drop on an existing installation as long as you cant smell gas. My plumber come yesterday. Tested all round the boiler. Now no leak. That bloke obviously fixed it even tho he said it wasnt coming from the boiler. He detected a 0.36 pressure drop. Give me a gas safety certificate and connected me back up

Now it seems to me ideal were looking for a get out because one of their engineers left us with a slight leak from the boiler and also when the guy filled the paperwork in got my wife to sign it before he wrote in the comments part. I think they've been very sneaky and underhand. What I want to know is did he have any right not to reconnect us and should ideal be issuing gas safety certificates if they have messed with the combustion part of the boiler?

 

[CBW]

customer can smell gas when we couldn't

Which is it?

Wednesday I noticed a slight smell of gas from the boiler

He detected a 0.36 pressure drop.

There shouldn’t be any after esp has been out - cadent in your case.

What I want to know is did he have any right not to reconnect us and should ideal be issuing gas safety certificates if they have messed with the combustion part of the boiler?

Yes if he feels it’s unsafe he doesn’t have to connect and no they don’t have to issue a certificate.

 

[Michaelsf90]

We could smell gas Wednesday. Thursday morning cadent confirmed gas leaking from around the boiler. Capped the gas off. Ideal had been monday and worked on the boiler so gas was leaking after that visit

After cadent had capped us off ideal come and said it wasnt leaking from the boiler it's our pipework. Cadent had 2mb drop and ideal once messing with the boiler had 0.4mb pressure drop. The ideal guy Thursday said customer can smell gas after hed fixed the boiler. Once he fixed the boiler he said we could smell gas when we couldn't. It seems to me they are trying to pass the book. I was under the impression off several plumbers that 0.4 is nothing of a drop and is safe and acceptable. Hence the plumber we use signing it off. So after ideal changing gas valve and injector on the boiler they dont have to issue a certificate to say it's been safe and tested?

 

[ianmcd]

0.4 is nothing of a drop and is safe and acceptable

Not when you have said you had smelt gas it isnt, you cant just say I cant smell gas anymore, once smell of gas has been reported it has to have zero drop, we dont make the regs we just have to abide by them

 

[Michaelsf90]

So after there has been a leak from an appliance you arent allowed any drop at all? Plumbers at work and the one I use seem to think its acceptable

 

[CBW]

So after there has been a leak from an appliance you arent allowed any drop at all?

Any gas escape reported by the customer (smell of gas) and once cadent have been out it has to be found or made safe with zero drop.

Plumbers at work and the one I use seem to think its acceptable

it’s not acceptable, so he’d be liable if there’s was an issue. If cadent re-attended they might riddor him.

 

[ianmcd]

So after there has been a leak from an appliance you arent allowed any drop at all? Plumbers at work and the one I use seem to think its acceptable

That is why they are plumbers and not Gas engineers, YOU said you could smell gas so YOU changed the testing criteria

 

[durhamplumber]

.

 

[durhamplumber]

he fixed the boiler he said we could smell gas when we couldn't

Could he not use a gas analyser instead of relying on sense of smell.

 

[Razor900]

It's unlikely you noticed a smell of gas from the boiler it's a sealed unit so any 'leaks' tend to go out the flue but not inside the house.

Of course there's nothing to say that a pipe wasn't disturbed under the boiler when the work was carried out which would make the last ideal guy right even if the previous one had accidentally caused it.

If the smell was coming back in from the flue it's quite possible that the new gas valve was faulty and letting by. based on what you're saying.

Presumeably you have the paperwork from Ideal documenting what's been done. What do they have to say about things?

 

[Michaelsf90]

I'm not a plumber or a gas engineer. I'm an electrician who knows nothing about gas haha but I have since found out the plumber I use tested it at .22 of a drop on the tightness test which apparently your allowed a 0.5 drop using an electronic tester or something. But with the oven being on and fire he said your technically allowed up to 4. But if it was just the testing of the carcass your allowed 0.5 with a electronic/digital meter

Apparently it was caused when changing the burners. All the banging and moving of parts. But ideal wont admit it. The only paperwork ideal left was a safety do not use notice which started 0.4 drop plus smell of gas. He said get cadent out to find the fault and went. I was then told off people cadent wont come once they've capped you off so sounded like he just wanted get out of there! Basically what I'm getting from all this is it's a minuscule drop but some point soon I need to get my gas pipework changed for new

 

[Stadan20]

0.25 /0.2 mb on digital

 

[Michaelsf90]

The two tests I have witnessed. One was 0.36 and one was 0.22 with the oven and hob not isolated or the boiler. Would any of you professionals worry about this?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The two tests I have witnessed. One was 0.36 and one was 0.22 with the oven and hob not isolated or the boiler. Would any of you professionals worry about this?

I think there is a massive element of confusion here, between pressure drop when appliances are used and pressure drop with the pipework isolated and the pressure in the pipe monitored for drop due to leakage.

 

[Stadan20]

As many have said YOU have reported a smell of gas . Regardless of appliances connected or not the drop can be no greater than 0.2mb