Hi. Advice needed on Served Boiler

[LuigiM]

Hi guys. My brother and I are plumbers working when we lived in Italy. We have since moved to UK when sister married her man with Italian Restaurant. I have a question.

He now wants boiler for restaraunt services but UK guy wants £120 for this. My brother he will do it with my help. It’s easy. Very much like we had in Italy. Is this a problem in UK

 

[rpm]

Make and model of boiler to be serviced please.

 

[Harvest Fields]

@ShaunCorbs

 

[rpm]

@ShaunCorbs

Hold yer fire, could be oil for all we know.

 

[LuigiM]

Boiler is Potterton. Very old. Easy services

 

[king of pipes]

Yes a big problem leave it alone ! and get a fully qualified and insured engineer to service it.

 

[Harvest Fields]

Hold yer fire, could be oil for all we know.

Could be. Only tagged so he can keep an eye on it. No offence intended.

 

[LuigiM]

Ok. Thanks. But my brother is plumber in Italy. That is not ok in uk? We have fixed many boilers in Italy. It’s easy job to do. And we not get paid so does it matter?

 

[LuigiM]

We have boiler “services manual”. It tells us exactly how to services it. Sounds easy

 

[rpm]

Edit
Just seen other replies.
Touch that, it goes Boom, you go to prison.

 

[LuigiM]

Thanks for all you help. Just how much would it cost for services and can you tell how long?

 

[Riley]

Wind up. Are either of you gas safe??

 

[LuigiM]

I think gas

 

[Riley]

So no you cant

 

[LuigiM]

Sorry no. We work now in restaraunt as barmen.

 

[Harvest Fields]

Then you need to be Gas Safe Registered in the UK to work on any gas appliances and hold the correct certification. Sorry to say.

 

[townfanjon]

If this is genuine, £120 .00 is ok

 

[LuigiM]

Ok thanks. No we can’t. How we do find someone who is allowed?

 

[LuigiM]

How long should it take. Restaraunt opens at 11:30. Would it be possible before then. I think so

 

[Riley]

Depends on the state of the boiler

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Best option is to find a local gas safe engy to do the work

 

[LuigiM]

Ok. Thanks for you guys help. We shall find uk guy for services. But £120 is ok? In Italy services take 1 hour maxx. £120 for hour is a lot of money. In Italy try 25EUR.

 

[townfanjon]

Take a hour will it ?

 

[rpm]

Take a hour will it ?

Maxx

 

[LuigiM]

You think it will take 5 hrs? But restaraunt opens at 11:30!

 

[rpm]

Wind up!

 

[LuigiM]

I’m not sure but thank you guys

 

[king of pipes]

If you do any work on the boiler you will be breaking British law and contravening the Gas safety regulations , which could lead to prosecution for you and your employers ,their building and public liability insurance will be void so is it really worth the risk the answer is no ! get a proffesional in whatever the cost get a quote for the work before it is carried out most companies will need to see the boiler first to carry out a safety check and make sure it is fitted correctly. Kop

 

[Sharp Point]

Wind up this

 

[Welder]

Luigi.
The law in the UK is very different to Italy. Only 'Gas Safe Registered' engineers are allowed to work on appliances which use gas. It is a criminal offence to work on them if you are not registered even if you do it for free.
Many people in the UK do not service boilers properly. They take very little time and do not strip the boiler down to physically inspect it.
Depending upon what the engineer finds and what the engineer does £120 is a reasonable price.
Please be aware that not ALL gas safe registered engineers are the same. Some have many years of experience and this is the type that you need to make sure the job is done properly.
Regarding the time it will take and the opening time of the restaurant, may I suggest you simply talk to the engineer when you agree the job to make sure they come to you first and early to have the best chance of having the heating & hot water back on.
Lastly, you may wish to post the job in the appropriate forum section on here so you have the best chance of getting someone 'good'.
I hope that helps.
David

 

[Welder]

Wind up this

Its no wind up BR it's just someone who doesn't understand how the UK system works. Put yourself in Luigi's shoes. Would you know the ins & outs of all the rules if you moved to Italy and a little while later wanted to help someone?

 

[Aire]

Its no wind up BR it's just someone who doesn't understand how the UK system works. Put yourself in Luigi's shoes. Would you know the ins & outs of all the rules if you moved to Italy and a little while later wanted to help someone?

To be fair he is called Luigi, he has a brother and he was a plumber, could be a wind up. Mario could be on another forum asking the same advice

And did anyone else read his post using an Italian accent or is that just me?

 

[rpm]

Where did he get the 5hrs from? This was the point where I felt he was just prolonging the convo and called it as I saw it.

 

[Stigster]

I haven't worked with oil in a while now and my OFTEC has expired but when I did do that work I occasionally had a complaint that I was "taking too long, the last guy used to do it in 20 mins!"

An average oil boiler service in my area would cost £100 with an oil filter change and new burner flexis. It would take me approximately an hour to do it properly if the boiler wasn't too filthy. One day a customer complained to my boss that "the last guy only took 20 minutes and only charged £80."

All they were doing was changing the nozzle and checking the gas readings. Nothing else, no cleaning, no testing safety components. Just nozzle, air adjustments and leave.

He pointed out that nobody could service an oil boiler properly in 20 minutes and would they rather pay £80 to not have their boiler actually serviced or £100 to have someone spend an hour and do it properly? Thankfully they stopped moaning after that.

You get what you pay for in life usually.

 

[dan_the_plumber]

Does this not come under commercial catering? Anyone who holds that qualification is worth the money I’d say