indeed, even thinking about it , and I am proud of it that I might have saved lives by using one.
Issuing Gas Safety Certificate & requirements
- Thread starter Mikefromlondon
- Start date
indeed, even thinking about it , and I am proud of it that I might have saved lives by using one.
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what you should have done is turned off the gas and left it at that, to you its just a screw, to others its just a boiler and so on. the boundaries are set for a reason and you do not choose to cross them. in this situation it was merely a simple screw but you are not competent to make these judgement calls.
and what the heck are you doing with LDF.
and what the heck are you doing with LDF.
In an Emergency situation, you do not think of the consequences, you just get on with your best ability to save a situation. You do not even think, because it comes naturally, to those who are competent like I am.
Everyone has LDF in thier homes!
are you recognised as competent by the currently regulatory body?
if you are referring to fairy liquid, you are not allowed to use it as LDF, but you knew that being competent et al.
if you are referring to fairy liquid, you are not allowed to use it as LDF, but you knew that being competent et al.
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Why do I need to be recognised by the current regulatory body since I am not in this profession, but certainly it doesn't stop me from using common sense to prevent disasters!
As for LDF, one would use the approved stuff, which if you were a regular RGI fitter, you would be carrying that as an essential part of your kit.
If that approved LDF was not available or had run out, would you wait to get hold of one whilst the gas continues to leak, or would you use something equally effective that our forefathers had been using in the past for so many years before the new more suitable stuff was developed.
May be you don't know, but there was a time when coal miners used to keep Canaries to detect CO, today, they would have been replaced by less reliable CO detectors that might not work as well as the canaries sense of CO.
And customs still use sniffer dogs to detect illegal drugs ect, money laundering, can you replace that with any modern stuff as effective?
Please Gentlemen, let us not have more arguments or debate about this,
I am perfectly able to defend any of my actions if ever I am brought to a court, but you guys are registered, you have a lot more to answer when things go wrong, such as leaving an appliance/installation with a potentially dangerous leak.
I am perfectly able to defend any of my actions if ever I am brought to a court, but you guys are registered, you have a lot more to answer when things go wrong, such as leaving an appliance/installation with a potentially dangerous leak.
My stupid wife who is hearing impaired has so many times left our gas cooker knob on after cleaning and her sense of smell is just as bad, I have come to house smelling full of raw gas!
Is it me, or does anyone else wonder why he's married to a stupid deaf woman?
Is it me, or does anyone else wonder why he's married to a stupid deaf woman?
There is a real difference between being really stupid like you are acting now, or my stupid wife who leaves the cooker knobs on whilst cleaning the hob, and her disability does not help her.
But are you hearing impaired? so why do you act like a stupid here? just bugger off!
Don't get too personal here and don't cross the fine line!
If you can cross lines, why not others?
Common sense in your situation would have been to turn off the gas emergency control and call the gas board.
Just like it does in big letters on that white metal thingy you were tinkering with.
Not sure what hearing impairment has with looking at the position of the dial, but then of course she is married to someone like you so I guess all bets are off?
Common sense in your situation would have been to turn off the gas emergency control and call the gas board.
Just like it does in big letters on that white metal thingy you were tinkering with.
Not sure what hearing impairment has with looking at the position of the dial, but then of course she is married to someone like you so I guess all bets are off?
Like I said before, I did it without even thinking, comes naturally to me, if I see a building burning with people asking for help, without putting my own life at risk, I will do whatever is necessary to help them out, no definitely I won't try to be a hero and go into the building, if it means getting mattresses from the neighbors and lay them down for them to jump on, I will do that, if I haven't the ladder!
As for crossing the fine line, it depends on which line you cross, getting personal is different to discussing about who can and who can't touch gas appliances,
For your information, my wife acquired her hearing impairment directly as a result of an INCOMPETENT DOCTOR who failed to diagnose her ear infection properly, did not give her antibiotics when he should have, until the infection took strong hold of her ear and damaged her auditory nerves and conduction bones, even perforated her ear drum. She had gone through several operations to restore her hearing and can only hear loud now.
But to insult daf people or people with any disabilities is a no no.
She is stupid not because she is hearing impaired, but time and gain I have asked her to double check cooker knobs, that she is not leaving them on after cleaning. But she forgets. Hence why i have replaced the hob with the new safer flame supervision device. If I accidently leave a knob on I would know due to hissing noise and smell gas well before it becomes highly concentrated, unfortunately her sense of smell is weak.
As for crossing the fine line, it depends on which line you cross, getting personal is different to discussing about who can and who can't touch gas appliances,
For your information, my wife acquired her hearing impairment directly as a result of an INCOMPETENT DOCTOR who failed to diagnose her ear infection properly, did not give her antibiotics when he should have, until the infection took strong hold of her ear and damaged her auditory nerves and conduction bones, even perforated her ear drum. She had gone through several operations to restore her hearing and can only hear loud now.
But to insult daf people or people with any disabilities is a no no.
She is stupid not because she is hearing impaired, but time and gain I have asked her to double check cooker knobs, that she is not leaving them on after cleaning. But she forgets. Hence why i have replaced the hob with the new safer flame supervision device. If I accidently leave a knob on I would know due to hissing noise and smell gas well before it becomes highly concentrated, unfortunately her sense of smell is weak.
If you knew what the law was, you would know that the above is nearly all BS. Once the tenant is 2 months late with rent - the amount doesn't mater, only that there is an arrear of at least 2 months - then you can apply to the court for a possession order with no further delays (other than getting a date in court). I believe that this ground is one where it's not discretionary - ie all you have to show is that there is an arrear in excess of 2 months and the judge has no option other than grant possession.
The 2 months is for a section 21 notice. That too is non-discretionary, as in if you need to go to court all you need to show is that the section 21 notice was correctly served and that the notice period has expired.
With other reasons for seeking possession, some of those are discretionary - ie you need to show that the tenant is in default of a term in their agreement, AND that evicting them is reasonable and proportionate.
Of course, as soon as there is a problem you should be issuing a section 21. If you don't get possession on other grounds (eg the tenant pays an amount to have arrears that are now under 2 months), then you will be able to use the section 21 notice.
I agree, my last tenants left the place a right mess (in terms of, the cooker was minging, the cooker hood was worse, and as for the fridge ...) - but that's the risk you take.
That only applies in some areas. If it isn't an HMO, then only some councils require registration, and those that do don't necessarily apply it to the whole area.
10% is not bad - but it depends on how good they are. You do NOT have to use an agent if you object to paying their fees. You can manage it entirely yourself at one extreme, and one step down from fully managed is to use an agent to advertise the property, do the viewings, do all the legal stuff, and put a tenant in. The usual charge for that is the first month's rent. And there are other options in between.
If you are managed, tell your agent what your expectations are. If you want the washing machine repaired (for example) then tell them. If they then get it replaced without having someone make reasonable attempts to repair it then you can quite legitimately tell them where to stuff their invoice.
Of course, if you want the hand-off approach where all you do is get the rent paid to your bank account every month, then you'll be paying the agent to deal with these things for you. As the saying goes, you pays your money and takes your choice.
It's an occupational hazard - you either accept it or find a different occupation. But you are correct, people do not realise the costs of being a landlord, assuming that all you do is f***-all but collect your rent every month.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...andlords-face-extra-costs-of-1500-a-year.html
If you are serious about being a good landlord, then there are good sources of help. The NLA (http://www.landlords.org.uk) have an extensive library which is free access to members - some of it is accessible to guests. There's also the Residential Landlords Association (http://www.rla.org.uk) - their forum is not completely closed, but teasingly doesn't let you see replies.
Oops, hit the quote instead of edit button again 
To add to the above, nothing about getting a tenant out should need a lawyer. Joining one of the associations (and using their helplines and document libraries) is probably cheaper than using a lawyer !
To add to the above, nothing about getting a tenant out should need a lawyer. Joining one of the associations (and using their helplines and document libraries) is probably cheaper than using a lawyer !
Thank you Simon, you took the trouble to reply, and very useful posts.
As I said before I am not a mean landlord, most of us can face crises sometime in our life. So every opportunity should be given to those who need help, fortunately, for me I do not have to pay any mortgage repayments as the house is now free! So any delay in rent, I do not panic.
However, I am no longer in a position to serve her a notice, despite she is still far behind rent, I am stuck in a very sticky situation!
I can write 2 pages full of events that lead me to this situation, it wasn't my asking for it.
1. The tenant is behind in rent, by February this year she is 3 months behind
As I said before I am not a mean landlord, most of us can face crises sometime in our life. So every opportunity should be given to those who need help, fortunately, for me I do not have to pay any mortgage repayments as the house is now free! So any delay in rent, I do not panic.
However, I am no longer in a position to serve her a notice, despite she is still far behind rent, I am stuck in a very sticky situation!
I can write 2 pages full of events that lead me to this situation, it wasn't my asking for it.
1. The tenant is behind in rent, by February this year she is 3 months behind
for some reason, i couldn't add more comments to the above uncompleted post, so i will continue here.
2. My lettings agent phones me and informs me that she is behind in rent and whether he should serve her a notice under section 21.
5. I say No to him, and leave it with me, I will phone her up and find out if she is in difficulties, and I can flex a little.
6. She answers my call, whereas she had been ignoring all the calls and letters from the lettings agent regarding rent arrears.
7. I offer her more time to catch up with rent, and wish her good luck.
8. Its May, my lettings agent phones me, and reminds me that it is time for the Gas Safety Record to be renewed.
9. I give him the go ahead to send his own RGI to service the WAU and issue a safety record, but there is a problem, she is again not answering his phones and so an appointment cannot be made.
10. As a landlord I am liable for a valid safety record.
11. So the agent phones me again and asks me to get there with my keys to let in the RGI so that he can perform his safety checks and any service due.
12. I suggest that it would be wrong for us to turn unannounced, so better to write to her that we would be coming to do the safety check.
13. Still nothing heard from her, she did not even answer my phone call this time.
14. On the day of appointment, her fella rings me to cancel the appointment as he said they would not be at home, but I was well on my way and as well as the RGI was also heading on his way as he had checked with me and said he would meet me around 1pm.
15. I told her fella that it was too late and that since I have my own keys so I can let the RGI in. So if he was not there then it is not a problem.
16. There was a bad accident on that day in Harlow, a motor Cyclist was being rushed to hospital by an air ambulance, and all the major roads into Harlow were closed off! big traffic jams!
17. finally I got to the premises at 2.0 pm, my mobile phone battery went dead, and I could not contact the RGI nor could he contact me, I assumed he might also be held up in traffic as he was heading to Harlow from North London.
18. Having got there, I am not sure if the RGI had come and gone, or is he still stuck in traffic
19. However, I have my keys but I don't want to enter the premises on my own! so I ring the door bell, and she was actually at home!
20. I asked her if the RGI guy has come and gone as I was stuck in traffic, and she said No, not so far!
21. So I asked her if I could come in and start having a look at the WAU, and see if its dust filter needs cleaning, and I can do that as that is something the tenants are suppose to do every fortnightly when the heating is in use!
22. She replied but the heating is dead and has melted!
23. I said what? and when i looked at the WAU, its front plastic cover had melted due to overheating, through a failed sensor!
24. I knew straight away that there was no possibility of a safety record being issued so when the guy got there, he saw the unit and straight away got on with capping the WAU and issued a warning notice.
25. I was truly horrified at her for not reporting this earlier! I asked her why did she not tell me about the melted heating, her reply was that because she was behind on her rent, she felt guilty asking me to send an RGI to fix the heating!
TBC
2. My lettings agent phones me and informs me that she is behind in rent and whether he should serve her a notice under section 21.
5. I say No to him, and leave it with me, I will phone her up and find out if she is in difficulties, and I can flex a little.
6. She answers my call, whereas she had been ignoring all the calls and letters from the lettings agent regarding rent arrears.
7. I offer her more time to catch up with rent, and wish her good luck.
8. Its May, my lettings agent phones me, and reminds me that it is time for the Gas Safety Record to be renewed.
9. I give him the go ahead to send his own RGI to service the WAU and issue a safety record, but there is a problem, she is again not answering his phones and so an appointment cannot be made.
10. As a landlord I am liable for a valid safety record.
11. So the agent phones me again and asks me to get there with my keys to let in the RGI so that he can perform his safety checks and any service due.
12. I suggest that it would be wrong for us to turn unannounced, so better to write to her that we would be coming to do the safety check.
13. Still nothing heard from her, she did not even answer my phone call this time.
14. On the day of appointment, her fella rings me to cancel the appointment as he said they would not be at home, but I was well on my way and as well as the RGI was also heading on his way as he had checked with me and said he would meet me around 1pm.
15. I told her fella that it was too late and that since I have my own keys so I can let the RGI in. So if he was not there then it is not a problem.
16. There was a bad accident on that day in Harlow, a motor Cyclist was being rushed to hospital by an air ambulance, and all the major roads into Harlow were closed off! big traffic jams!
17. finally I got to the premises at 2.0 pm, my mobile phone battery went dead, and I could not contact the RGI nor could he contact me, I assumed he might also be held up in traffic as he was heading to Harlow from North London.
18. Having got there, I am not sure if the RGI had come and gone, or is he still stuck in traffic
19. However, I have my keys but I don't want to enter the premises on my own! so I ring the door bell, and she was actually at home!
20. I asked her if the RGI guy has come and gone as I was stuck in traffic, and she said No, not so far!
21. So I asked her if I could come in and start having a look at the WAU, and see if its dust filter needs cleaning, and I can do that as that is something the tenants are suppose to do every fortnightly when the heating is in use!
22. She replied but the heating is dead and has melted!
23. I said what? and when i looked at the WAU, its front plastic cover had melted due to overheating, through a failed sensor!
24. I knew straight away that there was no possibility of a safety record being issued so when the guy got there, he saw the unit and straight away got on with capping the WAU and issued a warning notice.
25. I was truly horrified at her for not reporting this earlier! I asked her why did she not tell me about the melted heating, her reply was that because she was behind on her rent, she felt guilty asking me to send an RGI to fix the heating!
TBC
The problem I now have is that, the RGI guy said he wouldn't mind installing anew Wet heating for me and even started to check how and where he would place the boiler in the utility room and the flue could be vented straight out from the wall, but there is a door which is less than 600mm from the flue,
So he suggested that he would install it further along opposite wall, but this would cause issues with the condensate drainage, and for that he may have to use a condensate pump!
Then they looked at the old heating cupboard, and saw the asbestos, and said that will have to be removed! but he did not say who would have to do that, and said he would not be able to drill that bstuff to pass piping work for the wet system!
He said to leave it with him, and he would come back to me with a price, he also went through each room to see where he would hang the rads.
But he is no longer answering his calls, and never came back with a quote!
Is he afraid of asbestos?
In the mean time my lettings agent went beserk! he said why have I no heating in the place as it is illegal under Housing act 1985!
oh give me a break! I said.
the lettings agent told me about another RGI they use, so they will send him over to give me a quote, he never even visited the site! and said if ther is any asbestos associated with the old WAU, it must first be removed by specialists, and the flue as that is also made of asbestos.
So I was left in a limbo!
I rang a company based in London, who removes asbestos, they were not interested in a small job! or it would cost me far too much and I am better off finding someone else!
The tenants fella, Oh he knows someone, he said who does asbestos removals, and he would put him in touch with me, but nothing came of it!
so the bottom line is that I still do not have any form of heating other than I bought her thermostatically controlled fan heaters, one for each room, and am now having to pay her 150 quid a month towards electricity bill!
there is no gas being used on premises, her cooker is electric, she had told the gas supplier to cut her supply off as she was not going to pay them gas standing charge!
I am reconsidering to restore my old WAU as I found all spares are still available, and it only requires a new plastic front panel and new sensors, it will cost no more than around 150 quid in new parts and waiting for a WA specialist to come back to me how much he would charge to restore the heating.
further more the asbestos removal firm I rang said the place has to be totally vacated and if there are tenants they will have to move out until the work is completed!
I really need to get to the bottom of this, if any of you can do the job then please let me know, I am sick and tired of all the red tape.
I really can do with someone who knows about WAU, even though technically they are probably less complex in design than combi boilers.
but it is the safety aspects of the clean burning, safe burning, spill tests, flue check, heat exchanger etc etc, you guys know better so its your job, i can get hold of parts.
So he suggested that he would install it further along opposite wall, but this would cause issues with the condensate drainage, and for that he may have to use a condensate pump!
Then they looked at the old heating cupboard, and saw the asbestos, and said that will have to be removed! but he did not say who would have to do that, and said he would not be able to drill that bstuff to pass piping work for the wet system!
He said to leave it with him, and he would come back to me with a price, he also went through each room to see where he would hang the rads.
But he is no longer answering his calls, and never came back with a quote!
Is he afraid of asbestos?
In the mean time my lettings agent went beserk! he said why have I no heating in the place as it is illegal under Housing act 1985!
oh give me a break! I said.
the lettings agent told me about another RGI they use, so they will send him over to give me a quote, he never even visited the site! and said if ther is any asbestos associated with the old WAU, it must first be removed by specialists, and the flue as that is also made of asbestos.
So I was left in a limbo!
I rang a company based in London, who removes asbestos, they were not interested in a small job! or it would cost me far too much and I am better off finding someone else!
The tenants fella, Oh he knows someone, he said who does asbestos removals, and he would put him in touch with me, but nothing came of it!
so the bottom line is that I still do not have any form of heating other than I bought her thermostatically controlled fan heaters, one for each room, and am now having to pay her 150 quid a month towards electricity bill!
there is no gas being used on premises, her cooker is electric, she had told the gas supplier to cut her supply off as she was not going to pay them gas standing charge!
I am reconsidering to restore my old WAU as I found all spares are still available, and it only requires a new plastic front panel and new sensors, it will cost no more than around 150 quid in new parts and waiting for a WA specialist to come back to me how much he would charge to restore the heating.
further more the asbestos removal firm I rang said the place has to be totally vacated and if there are tenants they will have to move out until the work is completed!
I really need to get to the bottom of this, if any of you can do the job then please let me know, I am sick and tired of all the red tape.
I really can do with someone who knows about WAU, even though technically they are probably less complex in design than combi boilers.
but it is the safety aspects of the clean burning, safe burning, spill tests, flue check, heat exchanger etc etc, you guys know better so its your job, i can get hold of parts.
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