This months Gas Installer Magazine!

[gassafe]

Just read my new gas installer mag that arrived this morning... One article caught my eye & made me worry!!

Page 07 for anyone who's interested!

A gas engineer fined £2500 & £1000 costs after an inspection by the health & safety guys for sealing the outside flue with expanding foam!!!! That is all!!!! Apparently it exposed the occupants to gas fumes entering back into the property!?

Iv done it a couple times before just for convenience more than anything else. There's also plenty of flues that are not sealed at all I come across on new builds etc!

Also on the same page, 2 landlords fined £720 plus £60 to the victim for not getting dodgy gas appliances checked which made the lady & new born baby suffer carbon monoxide symptoms!!! Seems about unfair that the gas engineer gets shafted, yet the landlords get away scot free almost!!!!!!

 

[Atouchofgas]

Was reading that as well and couldn't believe it. Absolute joke and no deterrent at all

 

[Barry98]

Sounds about right in this day and age in this country , I actually think if dean abott had bowled that ball in England he'd be getting done for manslaughter

 

[Ermintrude]

Hse usually good guys. Labc pretty helpful too. Punk foam with cement over is absolutely fine. Foam isn't uv stable so needs cement over top of it to meet regs

 

[townfanjon]

I always seal flues with sand and cement mix, I have never used foam .HOWEVER, if anybody took me to court over something like that I would give up gas in a breath

 

[gassafe]

Hse usually good guys. Labc pretty helpful too. Punk foam with cement over is absolutely fine. Foam isn't uv stable so needs cement over top of it to meet regs

The boilers all come with a rubber sealing ring anyway, so the foam is covered most the time. Expanding foam on display always looks bad!

 

[Ermintrude]

Sealing ring isn't compliant with building regs. - not the gas side but building regs part A and B I believe

 

[jtsplumbing]

Like others on here I've come across plenty of new builds where flue not sealed, just rubber cover outside / plastic one inside

 

[Reg Man]

Expanding foam? for lazy gits. Its the magistrates (JP'S) that make the final decisions, they are not always in line or as informed as they should be.

 

[lame plumber]

so whats with all the ideals on new builds with just a rubber seal outside and inside, all passed by building regs!!

 

[AWheating]

i would not expanding foam an ideal flue, i furted on one the other day and dented it.

 

[jtsplumbing]

so whats with all the ideals on new builds with just a rubber seal outside and inside, all passed by building regs!!

That's the one's I've come across , Around Newton Abbot, all ideal boilers on new build, flue not sealed

 

[lame plumber]

probably the same company that did the ones in Barnstaple, they are based around dartmoor or oakhampton fm memory

 

[Reg Man]

One incident investigation I went on, the youngster's in the area pulled the flue out of the wall which was sealed by foam, leaving the boiler as a fluless appliance. No self tappers just pushed in.

 

[newcastle phill]

Its a biatch.
Never used foam on anything like that but normally its stickier than dog poop and sets like cement lol.
Now fire grade expanding foam has specification to stop the spread of fire and smoke so obviously it seals very well and would also stop CO.
Seems incredibly harsh
Still rules are rules.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

i seen the pics on fb it looks crap TBH

 

[newcastle phill]

A link ?

 

[leakeee]

I had a gas safe inspection the other week, gas safe said that I have to foam the flues. Regardless of what make of boiler

 

[ambrosia]

expanding foam is not a good product to put around a flue as when it expands it can crush the flue, unlikely but certainly possible under right conditions

when they procecute they tend to throw the book at gas engineers as a way of scaring us. Day to day however you can get away with appalling work. Its kind of like medieval law death penalty for most crimes but no police to catch criminals

 

[arran197]

Has anyone seen the Worcester video of the guy fitting a flue with the rubber collar on the outside? It states the collar is all that's required on the outside to seal the flue from the building, so surely the manufacturer instructions supersede the building regs? Needs sealing inside, though I wonder if they say the internal one is sufficient for that too?