servicing an oil boiler

[chelsea]

My mate has just moved in to a new property and has a oil boiler, i am gas safe and hold all the relevent qualifications NG boilers cookers gas fires and cpa1

do i need to be qualified in oil to service his boiler?

He has asked me so i just want to know where i stand as i don't want to break the law

i am thinking about doing my oil quals, do these need to be re-newed every 5 years like the gas?

 

[lame plumber]

if you gas qualified I wouldnt expect you have all the tools to be able to service an oil boiler or know how to do it!

 

[chelsea]

thanks for the reply but i did ask on clarification on the law of the land on servicing oil boilers. hope it does not come across as crask or rude i just would like an answer to my question, many thanks

 

[lame plumber]

bs standards 5410 part one state that only those deemed competent to work on oil systems and belong to an oil registration body shall work on oil fired systems, ie the same as the british stands and gas regs state for gas appliances. The fact that the government doesnt then follow this up with prosecutions of people who dont comply is a bit sad. Howevr, your insurance company may take a different few if you were to service an appliance that was then proved to harm people in the property. Additionally only those deemed competent and belonging to a registered body ie oftec are allowed to commission boilers and oil appliances, and if you read most mfis they state you have to be competent to install/maintain a oil appliance so no exams not competent

 

[Orry Clayton]

Remember British Standards are not the law. We only have to follow these for gas because the regulations relating to gas specify the BS.

Anyway in reply to the original question; no you don't need any qualifications to service an oil boiler. I would however recommend you get some training if you have NEVER worked on oil before. It is more like working on a car than a natural gas boiler.

 

[lame plumber]

Remember British Standards are not the law. We only have to follow these for gas because the regulations relating to gas specify the BS.

Anyway in reply to the original question; no you don't need any qualifications to service an oil boiler. I would however recommend you get some training if you have NEVER worked on oil before. It is more like working on a car than a natural gas boiler.

permission to disagree, bs states you need to be competent a bit like the highway code tells us how to use the roads. If we then break the highway code and kill someone the courts use the fact we broke the highway code to prosecute us, likewise if we cock and kill a customer when servcing an oil boiler the courts will fall back onto the bs as there are no regulations in force apart fm building regs which also rely on the british standards to lay down the right way to do things. I only say this after chatting to the oftec inspector about it and to the local trading standards/HSE enforcer who was looking into a riddor report I made. The HSE man basically stated that not enough deaths out there yet fm oil, but when it did occur and a load of the punters turn their toes up, look out who ever worked on the boiler they better be able to prove competence or they will be made one heck of a scape goat.

 

[heliotrope]

My mate has just moved in to a new property and has a oil boiler, i am gas safe and hold all the relevent qualifications NG boilers cookers gas fires and cpa1

do i need to be qualified in oil to service his boiler?

He has asked me so i just want to know where i stand as i don't want to break the law

i am thinking about doing my oil quals, do these need to be re-newed every 5 years like the gas?

There is no requirement to hold any qualifications or belong to any registration body
to service or work on oil boilers.

However, it would be sensible to know what you are doing and how to set up oil burners.

In my opinion the minimum equipment required would be an oil pressure gauge ,f.g.a.
and vacuum cleaner.

 

[EPH]

Buying a smoke pump and an oi pressure gauge will cost loads more than the price of a service, as said above its more like an engine than a as boiler but servicing is very simple but normally a lot dirtier than 95% of gas boilers.

Pay someone else and watch them, unless its something you're going to actually take up it'll cost more in tools.

 

[chelsea]

its somthing that i want to get into,could i go and do a course in servicing and maintenance,i don't mind buying the tools as i already have FGA that monitors oil so a smoke pump and gauge would be worth it in the end?

 

[kimbo]

If you ring oftec they will tell you, personally I agree with lame plumber I had a recent inspection and I asked the same question of the inspector and he quoted me what lame plumber said. You will not be covered by insurance so you do it at your own risk. My oft 101 qualification says that I am qualified to sevice and commission.

 

[lame plumber]

There is no requirement to hold any qualifications or belong to any registration bodyto service or work on oil boilers.

But to be insured you need to prove competence!

However, it would be sensible to know what you are doing and how to set up oil burners.

Understatement of the century!!!!!!!!!!

In my opinion the minimum equipment required would be an oil pressure gauge ,f.g.a.
and vacuum cleaner.

So how can you ascertain if its safe to put your fga into the boiler test point if you havent proved that you have a 0-1 smoke reading meaning you wont then clog up your fga with soot and muck, as corporal jones always said they dont like it up em and that applies to oily fumes in an fga, the cost of a new sensor is at least equal to that of a smoke pump! What about a vacuum gauge to prove your oil lines are set up correctly? If you want to work on vapouring appliances now your into oil wouldnt a draught gauge be an essential item, plus two directional levels to set up the burner.

Dont forget that in order to do a service iaw mfis you need to be carrying, flexi hoses, a selection of nozzles and filters. If you live down my way and work across the moors where only oil or lpg exist, you cant pop back to your merchant in 5 mins so to provide a decent customer service you need to carry a fair few spares in your van, ie pumps, filters, capacitors, ignition sets, transformers, seals, control boxes, to name a few.

It a disgrace that anyone would tell people to go and work on an oil appliance with out decent training and qualifications in todays litigatious climate. This site is supposed to support a proffessional image in its outlook and you see it happening with the gas side but when it comes to oil the worlds your oyster and every cowboyss encouraged to have a go! I'm afraid the mods may not like this little rant but isnt it time they took a stance on this issue as its peoples lives that are potentially being put at risk with this attitude

 

[chelsea]

you make me sound like a cowboy, i will do all the relevent training as its all 100% tax deductable as its education and tools are also tax deductable,so in a sense it won't cost a lot to get trained and qualified,it seems that anybody who is interested in adding another string their bow gets flamed down,if i want to better myself then i cannot personally see a problem

 

[lame plumber]

you make me sound like a cowboy, i will do all the relevent training as its all 100% tax deductable as its education and tools are also tax deductable,so in a sense it won't cost a lot to get trained and qualified,it seems that anybody who is interested in adding another string their bow gets flamed down,if i want to better myself then i cannot personally see a problem

If thats the way it seems, sorry, but the vast majority of people out there telling you you dont need any quals are doing it on hearsay, how many of them have bothered to check what oil competence is defined as, whether not being ticketed means they are insured or not and what will happpen if they screw up! you dont do it with gas so why do it with oil. If you do get trained up then enjoy it, its far more profitable than working on gas combis, especially following behind a service done without a smoke pump!

 

[Dotty]

If thats the way it seems, sorry, but the vast majority of people out there telling you you dont need any quals are doing it on hearsay, how many of them have bothered to check what oil competence is defined as, whether not being ticketed means they are insured or not and what will happpen if they screw up! you dont do it with gas so why do it with oil. If you do get trained up then enjoy it, its far more profitable than working on gas combis, especially following behind a service done without a smoke pump!

Oftec, at the moment, do not enjoy the same powers as gassafe do. So at the moment you don't legally have to prove your competency to work on oilers. BUT should anything occur after your visit and it can be proven you were the last to touch it then your insurance company would leave you high and dry.

Only this week I looked at a 'regularly serviced' boiler for my mate's in-laws. This service muppet thinks a service entails just replacing the nozzle. He couldn't explain why the heating wasn't working properly and advised a plumber was required. Nothing to do with the boiler being rotten, the air gate seized solid or the filter being clogged. He wouldn't have spotted it, not in the 20 minutes he was there anyway.

Reminds me, I must dig another burner out of me shed and strip the air gate off it!

But definitely no harm in adding another string!

 

[SimonG]

Last one there takes all the blame, competent or not. Get fed up of customers having a go because the last 'engineer' who's looked after the boiler for years said there was nothing wrong with the installation, yet I've used up two pens listing all the defects. They then get told that I don't give a stuff as I've told them and it's documented.

 

[chelsea]

so been looking at the website its a bit like gas, it amazes me that its not enforced like gas i guess that oil is in the minority as gas is usually in well populated areas,i'm gonna go for training in service and commisioning and i have read that some peeps don't get oftec registered but just do the training, will give oftec a call tommoz