Just found this while researching problems with unvented cylinders and what to do about them. We just moved into a property that had one fitted by previous owner. But after moving in, we had the central heating system looked at (by Gas Safe registered engineers) and they say that the whole system is unsafe and have disabled it.

We have a Corgi certificate for “boiler installation” only, and an approval certificate from the Building Control Dept for the extension which houses both the boiler (in integral garage downstairs) and the unvented cylinder (in the loft). All from one month before we moved in.

So we have complained to GSR, they are sending inspection team next week. But apparently they will only inspect the boiler, not the unvented cylinder, or any of the wiring to e.g. the programmer on the landing upstairs. Is this right? In the article you say to “ask to see thier CORGI or Gas Safe Register card” when hiring people to work on an unvented cylinder. So surely GSR should be able to investigate such work?

So who can we complain to regarding the dangerous unvented cylinder installation? I’m trying to find out from the Building Control Dpt.

We haven’t seen the Full Plans for the extension that were submitted to the Building Control Dpt. So don’t know if they included the required notification details for the unvented. (I believe that under “G3″, installations of unvented cylinders should be notified and done by a “competent person” – defined as someone with a current Registered Operative Identity card for the installation of unvented domestic hot water storage systems. Does this basically mean GSR registered? Please advise if I’ve got this all wrong, I’m a layman researching all this as I go)

If notification for the unvented was included with the extension plans, shouldn’t the Building Control Dpt have checked the unvented, and not issued the approval?

If notification for the unvented was *not* included with the extension plans, shouldn’t the Building Control Dpt have noticed the unvented cylinder installed in the loft of the extension they were approving and checked it out before issuing any approval?

Just trying to work out how we can buy a house with all these certificates, yet still have an illegaly installed and dangerous unvented cylinder? With all the regs and paperwork there must be someone to take the blame and pay to have it fixed? Or is all this paperwork actually pointless and not enforceable?

Sorry for the rant, would appreciate any advise. Great site you have here, if only all installers were as good as you guys! Am going to subscribe and see if I can pick up any more of the lingo for the coming weeks of to-and-fro with various departments, but for now I have to get on with my day job! Thanks.

Hi Eric. Thanks for getting in touch with us. I hope the following explains a few things about unvented cylinders and the rules regarding installation. Let’s start with the self certification issue. Self Certification is an ‘honour system’ by which installers of all types (windows, gas appliance, electricians, etc.) must notify the local authority that certain work has been completed. I think the best way to explain the mess you’ve found yourself in is to look at what should have happened in your property prior to your purchase and then look at what may have gone wrong.

The previous home owners hired somebody (I’ll call them Company X) to install a boiler and an unvented cylinder. There are four things that Company X required to do this job safely and legally:

1.Knowledge of how an unvented cylinder operates
2.Gas Safe Registration GSR (previously CORGI) for the installation of the gas boiler
3.NIC EIC or similar membership in order to modify the electrical controls or feeds of power to the new heating system
4.A certificate of competency in unvented cylinders which could be provided by one of several companies; our certifying body is provided by NIC EIC.

So Company X shows up at the property, removes the old heating system and installs a new natural gas boiler. The regulations that cover the installation of a gas boiler are the same with GSR as they were with CORGI. The boiler being a flued appliance must be reported to the local authority and that would have been done via CORGI or GSR website by the installer.

The electrics require a bit of explanation. All domestic electrical work is certifiable and some electrical work is also notifiable. So, if the boiler was installed in what is deemed to be a special location (these locations are specified in the building regulations BS7671) such as a bathroom or kitchen then ANY electrical work undertaken must be notified to a certifying body such as NIC EIC or ECA. You would then receive a certificate in the post from that body. If for example Company X just unhooked one boiler and then hooked up the new boiler to the same fused spur in a kitchen or bathroom the circuit must be tested and notified. If the same work had been done but in a bedroom for instance then a minor works certificate should have been issued and notification would not be necessary.

So on to the unvented cylinder. You are not the only person to have a cylinder installed incorrectly or in an unsafe manor by persons unknown who were not qualified and did not have the know how. An unvented cylinder is in effect a giant pressure cooker. Installed incorrectly it can become explosively unstable. That is why anyone who wants to install these devices requires training. Like a boiler an unvented cylinder has several redundant safety features that allow it to be used safely. There is a Pressure Relief Valve which will pop open at 3 bar of pressure and vent away excessive pressure (and scalding hot water) keeping the vessel from exploding. If the cylinder is electrically driven there is a regular thermostat usually set to 60 Celsius and a backup overheat thermostat that will cut off the electrics if the boiler rises above a certain temperature thus stopping the pressure from rising any further. If the cylinder is heated by an external source which could be gas, oil or an electric boiler then there are the safety features of the boiler plus there is a motorised valve placed on the cylinders primary heating coil and wired up to a thermostat so that if the temperature starts to climb above safe limits then the valve closes and stops the cylinder from further heating up and raising the pressure.

Common mistakes we come across on incorrectly installed unvented cylinder are lack of an expansion vessel on the central heating circuits causing the pipe work to moan and groan or causing leaks to appear in radiator valves of poorly connected fittings usually under a floor where they aren’t noticed right away, lack of primary circuit safety cut off valve (motorised valve) and my favourite which is the lack of pipe work running from the pressure relief valve so that if the valve does pop open the scalding hot water (under great force) will spray out into the home owners face or their property.

So if you’re still with me so far this is where things get complicated. There are differences between the way CORGI and GSR interpret the regulations. CORGI used to allow registered installs to notify all gas appliances whether or not the building regulations required it. Cookers for example never required an installation certificate but most installers obtained one anyway because it is the best practise. GSR for example does not require cookers and hobs to be notified although they will issues a certificate if asked and are currently being pressured by companies like mine to allow this service to help rid the industry of cowboys. CORGI used to list companies who were qualified to install unvented cylinders on their old website so the public could locate a qualified installer when required. The CORGI ID card also listed the unvented cylinder qualification so it could be checked by customers on the doorstep. The work that was carried out by your homes previous owners would have to have been notified through CORGI or the GSR website. In fact on unvented cylinders and gas boilers we’ve installed we notify both jobs together. We log on once to notify all work at the same address at the same time. It’s less expensive to list two jobs at one address than it is to log in twice and pay twice.

So to answer your question all of the jobs should have been notified under the self certification scheme which means that although the building control officer may have been on site they certainly would not have inspected the work. I’ve been on large residential jobs where other work was being inspected and the only question I’ve ever been asked was if I notified my work. No one ever checked. To be fair on the inspectors they have limited resources and if there to inspect an RSJ then that is what they are there to do. Like you or me, we don’t look for extra work to do during the course of our work day and neither do they. It really isn’t the inspectors issue.

As for GSR, and this may sound slightly obtuse so bear with me. They can only inspect gas related work of people within their own organisation. Although they allow members to self certify their unvented cylinder jobs GSR members have obtained their certification through another group; we for example are with NIC EIC.

So, for example if Company X was qualified to install the gas boiler then the GSR inspectors would look at the install from a safety aspect and check to make sure it’s correct. If deficient then the GSR registered installer would be contacted and asked to put it right. If the installer refused then he could be removed from the register which happens frequently. I do not know how GSR handles notifiable or certifiable electrical works as we are not registered with them but with NIC EIC. As for the unvented cylinder, GSR has taken an interesting approach. If for example I was to show you my GSR ID card it states clearly that I am qualified to install or work on unvented cylinders. If you look me up on the GSR website you will not find my qualification for unvented cylinders. That’s not just me either, that is every installer of unvented cylinder. GSR looks after gas installations. An unvented cylinder is not a gas appliance and GSR members are not certified by GSR therefore it is not their problem.

You should have received two certificates for the work that was done from CORGI or Gas Safe Register to cover the gas boiler install and the unvented cylinder and one minor works certificate if the boiler was installed in any room of the house except the bathroom or kitchen. If the boiler was in the bathroom or kitchen you should have received a Domestic Electrical Installation Certificate from the installer and received another certificate in the post from the certifying body.

So what can you do about this?
1. You can get the unvented cylinder sorted out by someone who’s qualified and get it put right which is probably your least expensive option.

2. You can write lots and lots of letters and hope to get somebody from the local athority down to inspect the cylinder. The inspector will be able to do nothing more than has been done and you’ll still have no hot water. You can then try and find the cowboy that did the work which will probably end up going no where.

3. You can get the faulty work documented and repaired (with lots of photos and something in writing from whoever repairs the work) and then chase down your solicitor or the previous owners solicitors for not obtaining the proper paperwork required under the Home Information Pack.

The latter would be my choice as it sounds like someone else’s failings have left you in the position you’re in. There are loop holes galore in the self certification schemes. If someone is not registered and undertakes work that home owners are not aware requires specialised training or certification all kinds of bad things can happen. You problems are one such issue. The government has created the same fiasco with building works that they have with the NHS, traffic issues, rail transport, NHS and the list continues. Lots of slippery characters know that and deliberately work to their own rules which change as required to get the job done quickly. We always try and follow the rules verbatim. Sometimes it’s easy to do the job correctly and sometimes it’s not. The problem is that if you’re not going to follow the rule book then what decides when to throw it away and when not to throw it away. It’s also interesting to note that the building regulations are just the minimum requirements. Nothing says that you can’t work to a higher standard. Again, some businesses just do the minimum they need to get by and some don’t.

Wow thank you so much for such a detailed response. I did read every word and appreciate the time it must have taken you to do this.

I think we’re going to go for your option 3. Get it repaired properly and then, if we have any energy left, chase the previous owners – we suspect they did the installation themselves and they’ve left us no end of other trouble. At the end of the day we’ll just have to cut our losses, chalk it up to experience, pay to get it fixed and have a nice hot bath.

Perhaps I’ll just write to my MP and ask “what’s the point of all the rules when situations like ours occur anyway”… might not work but nothing will change if we don’t even tell them. To contact your councillors, MP, MEPs, MSPs click here.

Thank you again for your time, keep up the good work.

Thanks Eric. I was aware that my answer to your question probably wasn’t the solution you had hoped for. With all the rules in place there is still a lot of room for dishonest builders to manouvre. As with everything in life however; the rules are for honest people. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out so we can let others know what they can do to fight the cowboys.