Seller incorrectly completed the TA6 form

[Optimist2020]

Hello wise Mumnetters, after some advice . Me and my partner recently (end of July 25) purchased a property. Within 5 weeks we noted issues such as the upstairs toilet being incorrectly fitted leading to waste water leaking on the bathroom floor and a new floor, floorboards needing to be replaced.

I turned on the central heating and the two radiators in the living room , hall way and downstairs bathroom do not come on. I contacted British Gas whose engineer viewed the property and advised that the pipe work has been incorrectly fitted and therefore the radiators do not work.

I checked the TA6 form and the sellers ticked that the central heating was in good working order and the heating system report is to follow. I have searched my emails and can’t find the heating system report and notified my conveyancing solicitor of the issues and awaiting their response.

Has anyone experienced anything similar ?

I’m tempted to obtain a heating system report as we have been in the property just over 2 months and I feel the incorrect pipework and lack of radiators working downstairs would be an issue the former owners would of been aware off. Not sure If id be successful in a small claims court ?

Ive triple checked my emails and the heating system report wasn’t sent by my sellers although they said they would
email it over.

Did you chase it up?

Caveat emptor OP.

Also if the loo leaked six weeks later, then it’s quite possible it’s only just become obvious.

I appreciate your frustration OP but there is almost no point going after the vendors legally. Even if they lied on the forms (serious) and even if you can prove it (not easy) and you win and costs are awarded, you may never be able to secure a payment. The process for following up unpaid debt is long and often unsuccessful.

If the sellers knowingly misrepresented the state of the property on the TA6, you have a claim against them for damages. Caveat emptor does not allow a seller to knowingly make false statements on the TA6 without consequences.

Contrary to the previous post, most people do pay when there is a judgement against them as they don't want their credit rating damaged by a CCJ.

Buy some oil filled plug-in radiators for your cold rooms. We bought some lovely ones, that look fine in our massive Georgian bedrooms. They make a world of difference.

Surely the British Gas report is good enough evidence.

But are we actually saying that it hasn’t worked since it was put in like that since the 1980s because that seems far fetched and I doubt the report would say that

@tripleginandtonic We will call out an independent heating engineer next week and hopefully they’ll be able to
properly diagnose the issue with the radiators downstairs and why they are not coming on but upstairs radiators are red hot.

How will that prove they didn’t work 2 months ago?

Will British Gas actually put it in writing or is just the verbal from the engineer?

We had micro bore pipes in another house. They were crap.

what I would do is

• bleed the rads
• turn the upstairs rads down to half way
• crank the thermostat to the max
• turn the pump up to the max
• fire up the heating and prepare to melt

that should force more water through the downstairs pipes and clear any airlocks.

if there’s a hot tank bleed the air from the thing at the top of the tank as well.

also check the boiler pressure.

Realistically, unless you can prove they knew it didn’t work and lied on the form, you’re going to get nowhere with this.

This would be a civil case which means it would be decided on the balance of probabilities. OP does not need proof beyond reasonable doubt. If a suitably qualified engineer writes a report saying that the heating system is faulty and that, in its current condition, the downstairs radiators would never have worked, that should be enough.

My DS bought a house with microbore pipes but the radiators all worked fine.
As the boiler was old (and agreement back boiler) he had the boiler replaced and the pipework redone at the same time.
We once had a situation where our downstairs radiators weren't heating up but upstairs was fine. We needed a new pump.

But yes it would have to be never have worked and I can’t see that being the case given that it seems to have been this way since the 1980s it would seem strange that they hadn’t and I can’t see anyone being able to assert that

more likely is that they weren’t working as they should - replacing our boiler made a world of difference and got it working as it should and once it did it was easy to see the difference but would not have known before

or they shut some of the radiators downstairs off (very normal in the current price rises) and that did something they weren’t aware of

is a heating report standard? Haven’t done one and didn’t do when sold FIL properly last year and his heating system was shit

How is the OP going to prove they knowingly misrepresented the state of the heating?

You can contact the seller and ask a question- but make sure it’s an open question and not an accusation. So ‘we’ve noticed the downstairs radiators don’t come on, were you aware of that? Did you have a way of getting them to work?’

I’m not going to contact the seller and having read the posts on here, it’s clear I’ll get nowhere going through the legal route.

A heating report isn’t standard but a recommendation @Tiswa . The former owners installed a new boiler in 2020 so the boiler is in good condition.

Ill contact another gas engineer independent heating engineer, one I’ve previously used to get their advice and analysis.

I don’t want to be using smokeless coal or logs to heat downstairs in the depths of winter so want to rectify the problems asap. The radiators downstairs only work in the utility and the kitchen but not where it really matters, the living room or hallway or downstairs toilet.

I wouldn’t be too worried about a cold downstairs loo! I had one with no radiator in it!!!

I had this and the fact the pipes are 8mm not 15mm does not mean the radiators were fitted incorrectly just that at the time of fitting 8mm was the accepted standard and now it’s not. My downstairs radiator stopped working and this is how I know this. My plumber explained that the narrow pipe is more likely to get blocked from debris in the system than 15mm which is why wider is preferred. It got fixed by the flushing out the whole system to get rid of any gunk in the system. It was quite pricey (£700-£800? Possibly. It was a couple of years ago). There was no way I was going to be lifting floorboards and changing the piping system. Two years later all radiators working fine.

This happened to us. Our boiler was fucked.

Our pipe work is also too thin compared to what British Gas want - but it works fine. It’s just not ideal.

If the central heating worked at the time the form was filled in, the form was correct. They should have also sent the heating report but your solicitor should have chased that up, and I shouldn’t think you’ll get more than an apology for them not doing so.

Also I’m not sure about why you talk about the air not flowing in the system. There shouldn’t be any air in the system. If a radiator was full of air it would be cold and you’d have to bleed it to get it full of water. It’s water that flows through the system and is heated up.

@NaranjaDreams I’d rather pay to flush out the system add a pump etc . It’s been insightful hearing all the possible options and will be calling out and independent heating engineer on Monday. Will use the log burner this weekend (I love a hot cosy house , so want to get this sorted 🤩) .

The boiler is oily 5 years old and no issues with this, the boiler certificate is up to date .

Your fault you didn’t chase the report

and the heating could have worked fine last time the see used it. I’ve not had my heating on since March so the sellers may not have actually used it for months

Also radiators use water not air so I’m not sure what your gas engineer could be on about.

This was spotted in our house when we had a new boiler fitted- the engineer said it would have to be changed - at great expense- but our regular plumber said it’s fine. It’s unlikely to be why you’re radiators aren’t working- you’ll just have to sort it out.

You have absolutely no leg to stand on @Optimist2020

The seller can say it was in good working order at the point if sale and you can’t prove it wasn’t. Unless it’s a new build it is just like buying a secondhand car privately- you have very little comeback legally unless documents are fraudulent.

Get it repaired and move on.

See my post at 10:15.