Boiler advice - could it be condemned?!

[cathydavies1994]

Hello! I have a few questions regarding a boiler in my father-in-laws place that I'm very worried about and would like advice.

My father-in-law is a chronic "tinkerer" and will fiddle and mess with things that didn't need tinkering with. He's recently told us that in the past he has moved pipes and generally done some weird "upgrades" to the boiler. I don't have information on what exactly he's done, but from a quick peak at the boiler and the things surrounding it - he's definitely cut corners and the pipe work is messy and makes no sense. He has NO qualifications for plumbing/gas.

So - my questions are:

• If he has been touching this boiler and fiddling about with it with no qualifications, and nobody then signing off either, has he essentially voided the warranty on the boiler? It was a fairly new Worcester - possibly installed 5 years ago. Would this also mean his house insurance is void because he's messing with the gas?
• I want to get a plumber in to look over everything, but I'm now concerned the boiler could be condemned if he's touched it too much?!
• We were planning on building a granny annexe within the rear of the property which we'd live in to help him (he's a hoarder and just a general hermit who needs help now) - the annexe would be within the house, nothing built externally. He mentioned that you can split one boiler to service two households individually - so if he turned his heating on, ours wouldn't come on and vice versa. Is that a thing?

Any help would be great as we need a good list of reasons to give to him to stop him touching the boiler - it's driving me insane!

 

[steadyon]

1. If he has only messed about with the water pipes it should be recoverable without much difficulty.
2. If he has messed with the gas pipe, it needs to be checked and corrected (if necessary) by a Gas Safe registered person.
3. Provided he has not done anything inside the cover of the boiler, there are no obvious reasons why it should be "condemned".
4. Presumably he has never had is serviced. If he hasn't then any warranty is void anyway.
5. Splitting central heating into different zones has little to do with the boiler and is accomplished outside it. Should not be an issue.

 

[cjg]

the reply is yes to the first and yes to the second, you need to get some one in gsr to check the boiler,
fitting a stat in the other part of the house (granny flat) will be easy to sort so he cannot mess.
hope that helps.

 

[cjg]

steadyon just beat me lol.​

 

[cathydavies1994]

Thanks guys! I really don't know what things he touched, but he sits alone all day everyday and just thinks up new problems to "fix". It's a frustrating trait!! Not as terrified to call in someone to take a look now 🙂

 

[Deleted member 120897]

With regards to the warranty, it would depend on the engineer and what they find, gas safe registered engineer’s have what’s called an unsafe situations procedure, which some will follow to the letter of the law. If he’s caused any damage to the boiler, unless it’s beyond economical repair, I see no reason to condemn it, however if whoever comes out on the day can not repair it, they are duty bound to make safe.

 

[Chuck]

If you're dealing with a vulnerable person who's at risk because of a faulty boiler, I believe (from second hand info) that Worcester Bosch have a rapid response support team that can get repairs and installations done much faster than normal.

Of course, if you're dealing with 'awkward' rather than 'vulnerable' perhaps being without heating for a few days would make your point for you.