Immediatly Dangerous Notice

[Falkirk Craig]

So my girlfriend notices some scorch marks around the gas boiler and we inform eve brown during the inspection.

Three weeks pass.

We then get an information leaflet with our gas bill about looking out for carbon monoxide escaping, tell tale signs are that you get brown marks around the boiler...

We get worried, let eve brown know again and only then do we get someone out who swifly confirms our fears and declares it to be...

"An immediatly dangerous installation which if operated or left connected to a gas supply will be an IMMEDIATE danger to life"

(note i didnt capitolise the immediate, they did :-\ )

So we are without central heating and hot water untill it can be fixed which may also take a while as the boiler itself is twenty years old and the faulty parts are no longer made as they had asbestos in them.

So far all eve brown have been generous enough to do is provide us with an electric heater which will no doubt cost us the world to run. Think we've any chance of getting some money for the bill off them or for living un an unsafe dwelling for so long?!

[Steveo]

I'd get legal on their asses - they threatened your life.

[hr]

Strangers passing in the street, by chance two seperate glances meet.

[Rosanna]

That's fucking shocking...

Glad you're ok, dude....

[Fawksie]

(2) It shall be the duty of any person who owns a gas appliance or any installation pipework installed in premises or any part of premises let by him to ensure that such appliance or installation pipework is maintained in a safe condition so as to prevent risk of injury to any person.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2) above, a person subject to a duty imposed by that paragraph shall—

(a) ensure that each appliance to which that duty extends is checked for safety at intervals of not more than 12 months by, or by an employee of, a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of regulation 3(3) of these Regulations; and

(b) keep a record in respect of the appliances to which that duty extends of the dates of inspection, the defects identified and any remedial action taken.


(4) The record referred to in paragraph (3)(b) above shall be made available upon request and upon reasonable notice for the inspection of any tenant who may be affected by the use or operation of any appliance to which the record relates.


Gas Safety, Installation and Use Regulations (1994 as that was the quickest to find, but this part of them hasn't changed subsequently as far as I'm aware).

Basically the landlord must have the gas pipework and appliances inspected, tested and certified by a registered CORGI engineer at least once a year, they should have copies of the certificates (so in fact should you), and they should be able to produce them on your request. I'd grill them to see has this been done.

[queen of scots]

Yeah, I agree, that's terrible - go and take legal advice.

[hr]

Life is like a beautiful melody, only the lyrics are messed up.

http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37100070

[M_A_T_T_H_E_W]

When my boiler at home had such an inspection done the inspector noted that we did not have one of these fitted:
http://www.corgi-group.com/check/staying.asp
and advised that we should have (advise not requirment to pass) so I would expect a landlord to have fitted one, ofcourse you never know if its not a requirment the why spend the money which could save someones life.

[hr]

Background reading:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/co.htm

[hr]


What's the food like at the end of the universe?
http://www.auditmypc.com/freescan/antispam.html

[Fawksie]

Quoting M_A_T_T_H_E_W from 22:09, 4th Feb 2006
When my boiler at home had such an inspection done the inspector noted that we did not have one of these fitted:
http://www.corgi-group.com/check/staying.asp
and advised that we should have (advise not requirment to pass) so I would expect a landlord to have fitted one, ofcourse you never know if its not a requirment the why spend the money which could save someones life.

Hmm, maybe the requirements are different under Scottish law and/or HMO regulations, but in Northern Ireland we've never recommended CO detectors. A well maintained and regularly inspected boiler is not going to be at risk of emitting CO. They are a good addition, but the landlord's primary duty is to maintain the installation so that they're never needed.

[Manic23]

Me and my Flatmates have just gone under the EXACT same ordeal as yourself, only with MDDC. We had a routine gas boiler inspection from Fife Council, the guy informed me we had smoke billowing out of the back of our boiler, and shut it down immediately.

We had a HMO inspection in November 2004 which identified the problem then, along with

#1 Severe damp in Bathroom
#2 No fire extinguishers
#3 Polystyrene borders along the ceiling (same as napalm if it catches fire)
#4 Those shitty doors with cardboard inside

And a few other things. They were reminded no less than 3 times about the work that needed immediate attention, but only bothered to get off their arses a week ago when threatened with legal action over said Carbon Monoxide leak.

Lessons learned?

* Avoid MDDC like the fucking plague
* When having any bother in any estate agent, threaten legal action to get stuff done

[Falkirk Craig]

Quoting Fawksie from 22:02, 4th Feb 2006
Basically the landlord must have the gas pipework and appliances inspected, tested and certified by a registered CORGI engineer at least once a year, they should have copies of the certificates (so in fact should you), and they should be able to produce them on your request. I'd grill them to see has this been done.

Can't fault eve brown on this point, it is inspected every year and was last inspected in august. We didnt notice any marks on the walls when we moved in so it seems like quite a severe fault for it to develop in such a short time.

Im just thankful we're alright. All the windows are double glazed and not open much, it is winter! And now we've got to suffer the cold untill its fixed, these electric heaters are fine when they get going but take a while and are so expensive.

[Mohawk]

and this is exactly why i've decided to buy my own place instead of renting.

landlords can be bastards, so can estate agents

[hr]

Blacked Out @ The Secret Bunker
http://www.blackedout.co.uk
All Proceeds Go to Shelter

[undisclosed]

I'm glad the situation is being resolved now, but I can't understand why you let this sit for three weeks without continually reminding them about it.

Perhaps there's a lesson here - if something is wrong, then you should do something about it and not rest until it is put right. If this involves nagging the estate agents repeatedly, and potentially annoying them, then so be it.

[munchingfoo]

it matters not.

The estate agents have been in the business long enough t know what the marks around the boiler suggest.

P.S. Yes you can get money from them. Urgent work like boilers etc which are a necessity to life must be carried out within a specific time frame (i think its 72 hours but I can't remember) or they must provide suitable alternative accom.

[hr]

Anyone questioning how I post on the sinner, my new way of life, will offend my "religion" and as such will be dealt with in manners inclusive but by no means exlusive of death threats, random acts of violence, maiming of the general public not involved in this matter and finally a Jihad from all my fellow religious sinners.

For years we have been oppressed by you post nazis, the time of change is upon us.

[Falkirk Craig]

We didnt keep nagging them as we didnt know what it was either. As for suitable alternative accom that is certainly going to be a problem as we have a dog too. We cant take her many places. Is this true about getting money off them? The gas was turned off on friday lunch time and as such it has been a cold weekend.

[munchingfoo]

Yes its true, you'll be able to find stuff on google about it.

but if it's only been a few days they haven't breached the conditions yet.

[hr]

Anyone questioning how I post on the sinner, my new way of life, will offend my "religion" and as such will be dealt with in manners inclusive but by no means exlusive of death threats, random acts of violence, maiming of the general public not involved in this matter and finally a Jihad from all my fellow religious sinners.

For years we have been oppressed by you post nazis, the time of change is upon us.

[BackwardsMan]

Ask them for money back for running the electric heaters. A friend of mine did 3 years ago when with eve brown and she got some money.