Plumber says he cant register boiler installation.

[Kate68]

Three years ago I had gas boiler installed by a Gas Safe plumber. He did a good job but I did not know I needed an installation certificate and was not given one, so when it was serviced a year later the guy who did the service told me I should get the installer to register the installation for when I move house.

I have rung/emailed the installer many times in the past 2 years and he swears he has contacted Gas Safe and done all he can but that the problem is with Gas Safe or the Local Authority who are not registering the installation and issuing a certificate.

Ive checked with Gas Safe and he is still on the Gas Safe register but that there is no record of contact from him regarding our house.

Gas Safe say that the certificate can be issued and backdated with no problems. But still the plumber says that he has done all he can and that he has spent hours on the phone to them, that he is fed up with the system and red tape.

Is this a common problem? Is it generally understood that getting a certificate which is required by law, is almost impossible? I wrote to Building Control for help -which is what Gas Safe suggested - and was told that our only option is to get the boiler re-installed!

Can someone who has experience of installations tell me what they would do?
Many thanks for any advice, Im tearing my hair out!

 

[Crezzer]

Its a simple procedure done via there website, they do charge for this service though. He's blagging you for some reason.

 

[Biggles..]

3years ago the onus was on the householder to ensure the appliance was registered, now it's the installer. This will be why gas safe won't chase him as back then he did nothing wrong, plus their system won't let you register a boiler install that far back IIRC.

 

[Bunnyman]

Not correct lee you can reg back up until gas safe took over from corgi if you need to

 

[Dan Robinson]

You also get a nice reference number when you complete the form.

Mr Installer is talking ******.

 

[Agile]

Its interesting to try to guess why he will not register it.

The cost is under £10 so that's unlikely to be the reason.

The only possibility is that for some reason he was not actually registered at the time he fitted it. Even so he could still register it with a later date.

The problem is that there is little you can easily do to actually force him to register it. That is short of taking action against him in the county court. Perhaps the initial letter before action might get him to see sense?

Tony

 

[JohnD]

What if he was employed by some large company rather than being a registered installer in his own right, and did the job on his day off?

 

[Biggles..]

Not correct lee you can reg back up until gas safe took over from corgi if you need to

Not had to try and register one that far back, but thanks for the info.

Point still remains that until the building regs were amended the householder was responsible for registration not the installer.

 

[Kate68]

Thanks everyone so much for your replies, really helpful. Now I understand that he can easily fix the problem and that it is him not GS causing the hold up, I will can threaten him with court action and that might do the trick. He was definitely registered with GS when he installed the boiler as I checked that with GS. Its weird as he was a nice bloke when he put the boiler in!
Thanks again for all your replies, much appreciated.

 

[Agile]

Most boiler installers are fine and do the job and register everything correctly.

But it is some customers who are a problem and most sensible installers don't do the registration until the bill has been paid.

In your case you have paid ( I hope ) and there is no obvious reason why he will not register the installation.

I think that you need to be more assertive towards him and make it clear that you will not let go!

In these cases I always wonder who he is in case anyone here knows him and could have a quiet word.

Best of luck!

Tony

 

[longdogs]

Did you pay cash??

 

[Biggles..]

Having a word in his ear, going to court, informing him you won't drop it! All pointless tasks trying to make him do something that wasn't mandatory!
You've spoken with GSR, even they won't chase him...we all know why, because it wasn't compulsory for him to do it.

 

[jeff the gasman]

Why do you want it registering.
Just a load of unnecessary bullsh1 t
The boiler won't last any longer or be any more efficient.
This is a nation of inspectors inspecting inspectors .
Jeff

 

[Agile]

Did you just pay him with cash? Perhaps without any invoice?

The IR are said to check boiler installation notifications to assess if any income is not being declared.

Depending on how you paid that could well be why he is refusing to do the notification!

If it were then it gives you a very powerful tool!

Tony

 

[Kate68]

Thanks again everyone. No I didn't pay cash, it was all above board and I got his name from check a trade, he had the highest score in my area and lots of good reviews!
The reason I need it is because by law you have to have it if you move, which I plan to in a couple of years. I didn't know any of this when the boiler was put in. If you don't have it it causes complications with the legal side of house moving and you have to take out insurance in case of any future problems with the boiler.
Anyway, armed with the info from you guys that this is not hard for him to do, and thru insistence and some slightly unpleasant phone calls I now have a reference number and according to GS's own website about the process, in 10 working days I should get the certificate : ) Thanks again to you all : )