No gas safe certificate - help me please

[listsandbudgets]

We had a boiler installed about 5 years ago and I only very recently discovered that we should have had a building regulations certificate for it. We never got one.

I emailed gas safe a few days ago and they say its never been registered or ntoified to local authority. I can no longer get hold of the original engineer who did the work.

Short of installing a new boiler what can I do?

I feel sick to be honest :(

We want to sale the house next year and I was trying to get all the paperwork in order which is how I disovered I'd need this certificate.

Firstly - you would be able to get indemnity insurance to cover this when you come to sell.

However, that's more what I would say to someone in the middle of a sale. You have time to try and fix it. Why not call a Gas Safe plumber and explain to him what's happened and see if they can do a retrospective check and then register it for you. Yes, it will cost you something to do this, but nothing like a new boiler!! Perhaps see if you can combine it with a service of the boiler.

Don't stress though, I bet plumbers get asked this all the time!

You could also get a carbon monoxide detector in the meantime just in case. Should be able to be somewhere like bnq, just like you would a smoke alarm.

Thank you.

Ironically I had the bl**dy thing serviced 3 weeks ago Looks like its going to be the best serviced boiler in history.

we've got a carbon monoxide detector Chchchchangeabout - the gas engineer who does our servicing made me fit one :)

You can get a certificate by a Gas Safe Engineer. Mine cost £50 when I wanted to rent my house out. Ask the engineer who did your service for you. My boiler was ancient and it's fine.

thanks gin but thats the safety certficiate which I 've got.. What I need is the buidling regulations certficiate whichh should have been isused when it was installed.

If it's building regs call the council and ask? They can probably retrospectively send someone to check it and issue (will cost you a bit, probably.)

Are you sure you need building regs for a new boiler? I think the Gas Safe certificate is all we needed when we sold.

yes - building regs have to be notified before the gas safe certificate can be issued. Either way gas safe haven't got it registered.

I've managed to get hold of the builder who did all the work for us at the time including getting the boiler installed. He's going to try to find out what happened if he can

All new boilers now have to be registered with gas safe who notify the LA when they are installed & commissioned. Did you get a commissioning certificate? Was the boiler instslled before 1st October 2010?

In the instance of you not being able to contact the original installer Gas Safe suggest you contact your local authority building control dept and/or Citizens Advice.

Balletgirlmum it was installed in first quarter of 2010 (I think March)

Does it make a difference?

The new Building Regs act came in Oct 2010 which Superceded the previous 2005 Act. But I don't know if notification wS required before then - I will ask.

Could it have been registered with Corgi? I believe that they were the body in charge until 5 or 6 years ago. I don't know if there was some sort of transition period where you could use either/or.

Ooh bit confused myself now. I had a new boiler installed in early 2010. Would that predate the need for LA building regs certificate? I have a gas safe cert but nothing else.

Also had another boiler installed in another property last year. It was duly registered with Gas Safe. Does that mean they automatically inform the LA?

Yes, Gas Safe automatically notify the LA.

I've just asked a colleague & we didn't have to register appliances before October 2010.

don't panic - get a gas safe engineer to certify it and report to building regs. This is NOT the same as the landlord's gas safe cert.

Just come off the phone to the gas engineer who last serviced our boiler. They are going to come out in the first week of January and sort everything out for me. He said it shouldnt' be too expensive and it happens all the time because lots of people who are good engineers skimp on the paperwork.