Just an update.
I have sent three emails to Vaillant with pics asking them whether the flue is legit or not but not yet received a reply. It has been installed horizontally as per the manual and has never failed a check so I am assuming it is ok. Sent the same pics to Gas Safe. They aren't interested. If it was a safety issue they would have been on it like a ton of bricks.
The missing 'seals' that he told me were a safety issue are nothing of the sort. They are simply grommets that can be removed for cabling, in my case the wireless thermostat. They do not bridge an airtight cavity. They are described as packing rings in the parts manual, not seals. I have replaced them anyway. Took 2 minutes. They cost £4.
The hob had been run off a spur to the oven. Yes, it should be on a separate 3 amp circuit. He started off talking about installing a new cooker switch and changing the fusebox?? Then wanted to install a switched fuse behind the built in oven, and retain the spur. This would have been replacing one dodgy set up with another? I simply disconnected the spur, stuck a 3 amp plug on the end and plugged it in to a wall socket behind the fridge, as per original fitting instructions. Took 15 minutes. Cost £0.
The earth is an NCS. No work required.
Sent a pic of the 'potentially leaky gas hob isolation valve' to an ex BG engineer friend. The tester had all four burners going at full tilt and there was no pressure drop. My friend tells me that this is a pass, not a fail. There is nothing unapproved about the valve at all.
I found a review of the guys work on the internet, it was like reading a Hammer House of Horrors tale, and had cost the reviewer a fortune to get work put right. I just wish I had seen it earlier.
So the total cost of making the system legit was £4, a bit cheaper than almost £600 (and he would not confirm that it would not exceed that).
