where does my mate stand???

[moogwai]

dudes, went to a friends house the other day to have a look at replacing his boiler...simple straight swap...so i thought.
it turns out that his boiler,which he's had for awhile now located in his kitchen,and when i went to have a look at the flue outside its facing newly built (within the last 2 years) neighbours extension....and within 300mm of the flue so no doubt there is gonna a build up of combustion products and the possibilty of these products coming back into the house via the air intake of the flue.
what i want to know is who's responsibilty is this to correct this...my mate,his neighbour or the pesky builder who built the extension not conforming to standards.
i know i should've turned off the boiler...but he's my mate and he's been living with it for 2years without incident...i have warned him of the potential hazards.
it will also be a right pain in the arse to relocate the new boiler.....i'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
could i get the extension demolished offf the back of this??? or possibly get the builder to pay for the boiler relocation???

 

[quality]

tricky one that but first I would approach the neighbours and explain your concern then either they or your mate goes to the builder with some amunition such as an ID notification

 

[newbie1]

this is basic mate regardless of him being a mate or whatever if you as a registered engineer go into a property with a potentially dangerous situation then you are required to either report or cap off whatever the regs require
now if something happens and you get pulled into it you have failed to follow the regs and could in theory also be prosecuted
the builder is primarily at fault if he has constructed the extension too close to the flue without consulting with your friend
you cant turn a blind eye to dangerous situations(well you can but its your licence at risk)

 

[moogwai]

i agree newbie...i was there on an unofficial visit and had no tools with me. i am going to phone my mate with my intentions and get him to go round and see his neighbour in hope of getting the builders details for me to contact him and warm him of what i am about to do and see what his intentions are. if he brushes me off i will riddor him as i think my mates safety is at risk and i dont want to see him dead.

best part about it he's on a bg service plan!!!!! and it's blatantly obvious they havn't looked at the flue situation so they could be liable aswell.....could i riddor bg??? that would be ace!!!!

 

[fuzzy]

when its a balanced flue there will be no products of combustion entering the property. It will create incomplete combustion though and therefore AR as a minumum.

Why wasnt this picked up by the claerk of works visiting site?

 

[newbie1]

even balanced flue have seen numerous unsealed/fitted through airbricks too near windows can quickly become id

 

[wnjswozo]

need to know what type of boiler flue,if its a condenser,then plume management kit may do it.

 

[fuzzy]

even balanced flue have seen numerous unsealed/fitted through airbricks too near windows can quickly become id

true(I posted this reply an hour ago but it aint here?) I was just pointing out it dont come through the flue. Your dead right about build up coming through other gaps though

why didnt the clerk of works see it?

 

[Kip]

Can be easily installed when fitting a new boiler by using a plume management kit isnt it?

When the air intake is taken from the normal place but the exhaust is extended upwards and away into atmosphere through what can only be described as looking like a waste pipe lol.

 

[moony]

from what i gather - the extension was built after the boiler was fitted, we have had recent dealings with this - if the flue goes onto customers property then you must gain permission of the neighbour, even if given then if the flue is no longer in a suitable place as with this extension being built then its your frineds duty to relocate the flue to a suitable place dischraging preferably onto his land.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

from what i gather - the extension was built after the boiler was fitted, we have had recent dealings with this - if the flue goes onto customers property then you must gain permission of the neighbour, even if given then if the flue is no longer in a suitable place as with this extension being built then its your frineds duty to relocate the flue to a suitable place dischraging preferably onto his land.

dont like to contradict q plumb buts the gsiur states that you can not locate a flue on to neibouring propetys under any circumstances,butif you have spoken to gs and had clarification i stand corrected

 

[Puddle]

from what i gather - the extension was built after the boiler was fitted, we have had recent dealings with this - if the flue goes onto customers property then you must gain permission of the neighbour, even if given then if the flue is no longer in a suitable place as with this extension being built then its your frineds duty to relocate the flue to a suitable place dischraging preferably onto his land.

Would agree q plumb, but should this not have been done at the time of building the extension?
The fact that the extension has been built without a word to his friend, breaking regs and possibly putting someone in danger opens the issue of negligence
The flue requires moving and would most likely be the friends responsibility and cost at the time of extension being build as said but now maybe a claim
I personally would install new boiler and hopefully as said plume kit could get round problem, maybe see if a shared cost of flue kit can be achieved
But would not fall out with a neighbour over it, you could be living next to them for years and you cannot beat nice friendly nieghbours,worth their wait in good, too many people tend to forget that

dont like to contradict q plumb buts the gsiur states that you can not locate a flue on to neibouring propetys under any circumstances,butif you have spoken to gs and had clarification i stand corrected

yes it should not be done but two wrongs do'nt make a right(unless it is my wife who makes the mistakes),so once it was there the builder should have sorted out before building and what about the building inspector or what ever they call themselves now

 

[charitynjw]

As previously posted, a tricky one!
GSIUR reg 8 (guidance para 87) directs the installer of the gas appliance to consider future development of neighbouring properties. But it is guidance, not law.
Appropriate reference to manufacturer's installation instructions (re flue siting), BS 5440-1, Building Regs, etc would be needed, together with legal advice re civil action.
Result - disgruntled neighbours, & the only winners will be the solicitors.
Just my opinion, for what it's worth!

 

[WHPES]

Why didn't the Building Inspector for the neighbour's extension pick this up? Surely the fault also partly lies with Building Control?

 

[david williams]

this should have been picked up at planing permision stage

 

[charitynjw]

Which leads me to wonder - was an appropriate inspection carried out?

 

[moony]

dont like to contradict q plumb buts the gsiur states that you can not locate a flue on to neibouring propetys under any circumstances,butif you have spoken to gs and had clarification i stand corrected

im not sure its against regs, we were under the impression that as long as its in a safe place no obstructions above 2m etc then it was ok as long as no objections were made, but if in future it becomes obstructed by something on neighbours property then it would be up to the customer to pay to have it moved to safe place.

it is good practice to carry out the original install in a place that is future proof though.

Would agree q plumb, but should this not have been done at the time of building the extension?
The fact that the extension has been built without a word to his friend, breaking regs and possibly putting someone in danger opens the issue of negligence
The flue requires moving and would most likely be the friends responsibility and cost at the time of extension being build as said but now maybe a claim
I personally would install new boiler and hopefully as said plume kit could get round problem, maybe see if a shared cost of flue kit can be achieved
But would not fall out with a neighbour over it, you could be living next to them for years and you cannot beat nice friendly nieghbours,worth their wait in good, too many people tend to forget that



yes it should not be done but two wrongs do'nt make a right(unless it is my wife who makes the mistakes),so once it was there the builder should have sorted out before building and what about the building inspector or what ever they call themselves now

yeah puddle totally agree, almost laughable if it waqsnt dangerous that a builder, building inspector and anyone else working on this project has found it ok to build in front of a flue without even bringing the subject up never mind giving the boiler an I.D.