DIY again

[PaulAH]

There are obviously a lot of frustrated DIYers on this site.

Could an OFTEC bod explain the following:

In previous posts, several OFTEC engineers have said they would refuse to certify a system installed by a DIYer. Yet the majority in my postcode area (yes, I am trying to find one) present themselves on the official OFTEC website as commission/service only. So who the heck is supposed to install the system?

Astonishingly, several show as "tank only". Afraid of getting your hands dirty?

 

[oilman]

Hello PaulAH, you were burning the midnight oil again . Here's wot I wrote for a gas occasion:

Am I bashing my head against a brick wall? It certainly feels like it.



There is nothing illegal about DIYers fitting their own heating systems, but nice as they are, weargas and AlanE can no more certify someone elses work legally than I can. THEY CAN SELF CERTIFY THEIR OWN WORK.



For the third party certification DIYers have to get this from the building control department., because heating systems, like windows and doors are now classed as controlled services under part L of the building regs of 1997 and subsequently made criminal law in April 2002.



DIYers can install their own, but they must tell the building control department first, and they will issue the certificate when it's finished and correct then you can have it comissioned by weargas or AlanE, (but not me as I ain't gas .

However, in this case, I can comission it. (Yipee )

Now then, have you asked Boulters for a recommended engineer? otherwise you may not need to be trawling around. Some people commission/service only (not even repairs in some cases) as it's either the way they earn their living, or in some cases they can get money off people for half-a-job. i.e. they can change a nozzle and give you a print from their analyser showing you how well your boiler's working, take your money and you're none the wiser.

"Tank only" means they deal with oil tanks and they will have a OFT105 or OFT600A certificate, but not the OFT101 which is required for commissioning.

Afraid of getting my hands dirty? You bet! I wear several different types of gloves depending on what I'm doing. (Doesn't work though, they still get dirty, I'm afraid )

Best regards,

OFTEC bod (Anonymous)

PS you haven't come across my entry yet as it has INSTALL as well

 

[PaulAH]

Always a pleasure to read your replies, Oilman. You know I am a perverse so-and-so and couldn’t resist tweaking the OFTEC tail with this conundrum.

Seriously, it did surprise me that so many registered engineers are unwilling to install yet they’d also (presumably) be reluctant to certify an unqualified person’s work. It just fuels the suspicion that we DIYers are in Catch 22. But I do heed your advice - which you’ve had to bang home to several people - that, by involving Building Control, the job can still be done properly and legally by an enthusiast.

Never mind dirty hands. How about dirty face, neck, elbows, ankles...? It took me a whole day to remove the old boiler from the walk-in cupboard, which is about an inch wider than the appliance. How on earth they squeezed it in I don’t know. They even had to cut a channel in the side wall to create enough clearance for the 28mm water cylinder pipes. And because the old Redfyre has been belching out smutty fumes for probably 10 years, the place was like the black hole of Calcutta, every surface covered in a thick layer of greasy soot. It took us the rest of the Easter weekend to clean, fill brickwork, and repaint.

Four days on, we haven’t even started on the pipework. And that, with the greatest of respect, is why we DIYers prefer to do this kind of job ourselves. When a (CORGI) engineer quoted me two days’ work for the entire job, either he had no idea of the work involved in removal and cleaning, or he’d have skimped on it, or I would have faced a massive extra bill for the dirty work to have it done to my satisfaction.

Now that it’s clean, where are you based, Oilman?

Best wishes
Paul

 

[AlanE]

Paul why 'Seriously, it did surprise me that so many registered engineers are unwilling to install yet they’d also (presumably) be reluctant to certify an unqualified person’s work'

By certify do you mean certify the installation??

If it is yes to that then I would repeat what I posted with regard to a similar question BECAUSE HE IS NOT BY LAW ABLE TO. He can self certify his own work he cannot 'self certify' the work of others.

There are, perhaps, many companies that commission, service and repair boilers but refuse installs. My own Heating & Plumbing Maintenance, located just outside Colchester does so so that I can offer a same day breakdown emergency service.

I will undertake the commissioning of boilers since my outlook is the fewer unsafe boilers the better (Plus I make money out of it!! but that is purely incidental!!) and I then hope that customer will return each year for its annual service.

Alan

 

[PaulAH]

I would repeat what I posted with regard to a similar question BECAUSE HE IS NOT BY LAW ABLE TO

And what law would that be, Alan?

 

[oilman]

It took me a whole day to remove the old boiler from the walk-in cupboard, which is about an inch wider than the appliance.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who takes time to do things.

the old Redfyre has been belching out smutty fumes

Was this a Centrajet by any chance? Even if it wasn't some of it's problem might have been that it was built to run on 35 sec oil, and I bet it's been running on 28sec oil.

Four days on, we haven’t even started on the pipework.

Only four days?

Now that it’s clean, where are you based, Oilman?

You think I exist? I may be only a virtual entity, you never know. Best approach is still ask Boulters for local engineer.


AlanE, PaulAH seems to be getting the hang of the approvals thing, he just needs to get certified now.

 

[PaulAH]

Certified as insane, more like.

The Redfyre, approaching 30 years old, was a pot-type boiler. Simple arrangement where oil dribbles into a pot and is ignited by a glow-wire. The flame, driven upwards by a fan, licks at a circle of vertical pipes that form the heat exchanger. Except it's now all in the past tense.

Is that a Centrajet, Oilman? I've no idea what it was called. All the printed data, model etc, has long been illegible.

The old heap was badly out of tune and coked up (a couple of 'qualified' engineers refused to touch it because of the asbestos fan plate, thank you very much) but the biggest problem was a flue downdraught during westerly winds which blow like billy-o where our place is sited. The fumes stank the whole house out. We had the cowl changed and chimney repointed at great expense some years ago but it made no difference.

You may be right about 35 sec oil but I think these other causes were dominant.

Incidentally, I saved the hard-to-find bits like the ignitor (nearly new, cost £34), fan (recent recon), float chamber, solenoid-operated oil valves and 6-inch enamelled cast-iron flue elbows (expensive to buy) if anyone wants them for a small consideration. A guy at my local heating supplier said he still sells quite a few ignitors because people keep these models going till they drop.

Oilman, you say you're a virtual entitity. How come you wear rubber gloves then?

And how about virtually replying to my sad post about towel rails? (I've decided to replace the hand-made one but the principle question stands).

Regards
Paul