Have just got back from a customer who I made a larder/boiler cupboard for. I left the soffit out of the boiler cupboard for venting. She has had her plumber look at it and he says it should be lined in Aspestolux, have vents in the bottom side and have holes in all the shelves, again for venting. He also told he that if this was not done and there was a problem I may be liable as the CORGI regs were not adhered to. Any-one know if this is true & if it so is it reasonable to expect a chippie to know the current CORGI regs? To cover my **** in future I might insist that the client employs a heating engineer to instruct on an exact spec - of course doing this will push the price up & I won't get the job. Any-one got any thoughts?
Depends on the boiler type/MI's If it is room sealed then it does'nt need ventilation unless it's for cooling purposes and even then some manufacturers say you don't need them. Also if it does need lining it needs to be with an approved none combustable material not just what he's got in the van Again all down to manufacturers instuctions, size of boiler, clearances etc Oh and by the way, no such thing as CORGI regs I think he's just spouting off
Any-one got any thoughts? The Plumbers forum might be the best place to ask. I seem to spend most of my time building luxury flats, these all have a combi boiler built into a bog standard larder unit in the kitchen. Current site is using Baxi 105, the one before that were all Ferroli.
built into a bog standard larder unit in the kitchen. OK. I forgot, they're not quite bog standard, the kitchen fitter does take the trouble to take his size 12s to the back panel,(literally) and then I get the pleasure of refitting something around the pipework and leccy sockets.
You need to check the specifications by the boiler manufacturer. Most can be fitted down to the minimum clearances. But this is not practical as the boiler maintenance guy probably won't be able to do his job. Which is what he is really moaning about. So reasonable access, or removal of the housing; has to be considered in the design of housing the boiler. I had to modify a cabinet recently for a similar problem. The cabinet had been fitted so tight around the boiler; it could not be serviced properly. I was able to modify as for their immediate purposes, but I think the design will create a problem for regular servicing and major repairs.
t482, i dont agree most are now forced by gas regs to have them put on an external wall. in most houses the only avaliable wall is the kitchen im talking about instant boilers mainly the lady of the house objects to seeing a boiler in her nice kitchen because it detracts from her units and more than that HATES seeing all that nasty pipework
Should always check the boiler spec before boxing in. I dont think you have anything to worry about as far as corgi is concerned or else the plumber should have shut the boiler down and declaired it unsafe because he is now responsible for the gas safety in the hous being the last competent person there.
As others have said, the boiler instructions do provide information with regard to building a cupboard around them, such as clearances and mm2 area of any ventilation required.
the lady of the house objects to seeing a boiler in her nice kitchen because it detracts from her units Totally agree! Bought a house 2years ( buy to let )it needed a kitchen but in the corner was a big ugly SIME combi installed 18 months earlier facing out were you would put wall units,and not a lot of wall space, the boiler would need probably about 500mm for servicing apart from that the pipework was installed by a f*cking madmam, I regret not taking a picture ! my wife asked " what can we do with that ? " I said " turn off the gas I'll get the sledgie out of the boot" replaced it with a 720 deep boiler and installed in 600 wide wall unit, replumbed moving the filling loop under the work top. It's tragic that there are c*nts out there installing boilers in that way, walking over people who don't know any better
Thanks for this lads, main problem was that the boiler was fitted before the owner moved in - no boiler spec. Have spoken to a friend who is a barrister specializing in building contracts/ law. He thinks the liability jump from chippie to chippie knowing boiler installation spec is too big and unreasonable. As rewire has said the ownese is now on the heating engineer, thanks. Live & learn!
I would question this installer as Asbestolux contains 16 to 30% Amosite. the use of which is illegal. Some boilers can be put in cupboards with no problems subject to clearances stated by the manufacturer. This information would be in the installation guide, which most manufacturers will have on their web sites.