SERVICING & MAINTENANCE

The Health & Safety Executive (which is responsible for regulating gas safety, and who oversee Gas Safe Register), strongly recommends that all gas boilers and appliances are serviced by a Gas Safe Registered engineer at least once a year. This is necessary to ensure that they operate safely and efficiently.

Annual servicing includes checking, cleaning, testing and pre-emptive fault finding. An appliance may appear to be working safely and effectively, but this may be deceptive. Every year in Britain many people suffer serious illness or lose their lives as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Landlords' Gas Safety Certificate

If you are a Landlord, or Property Agent, you are legally obliged to appoint a Gas Safe Registered engineer to undertake annual servicing / safety checks on all gas boilers and appliances in your property, and to provide your tenant with a copy of each Safety Certificate.

Manufacturers can set quite different specifications for servicing their gas appliances, particularly with regards to the servicing of boilers.

For some modern boilers, the safety and effective operation of the boiler is primarily determined via an analysis of the flue gases. If the gas combustion analysis reveals that the appliance is working correctly, then further dismantling of the boiler is prohibited.

[Many Gas Safe Registered engineers lack specific training and certification in relation to ‘Gas Combustion Analysis’. Certification can be checked with the Gas Safe Register, or by viewing accreditations on the reverse side of the engineers Gas Safe Registration Card].

Other boilers need the heat exchanger to be dismantled, cleaned, reassembled and have individual components tested, to ascertain their safe and correct operation.

This is why boiler servicing can differ markedly between brands, types and models of boiler.

Click on Service Checklist for Typical Modern ‘Combi’ Boiler, if you would like to know in detail what a standard boiler service would generally include.

Manufacturers’ Specified Service Requirements can differ markedly not only by manufacturer but also by product/model. It is precisely because of this, that engineers are required by law to follow the original manufacturer service instructions.

Unfortunately, these instructions are often lost by the customer, and Manufacturers do not always retain Service Instructions relating to boilers no longer in production. In such cases, gas engineers follow a standard set of predetermined checking, cleaning and testing procedures. Thereafter, the engineer can legally only supply the customer with a receipt for an ‘Annual Safety Check’, rather than an ‘Annual Service’.

In order to assist customers facing this dilemma, Alco Gas Care have compiled a library of Gas Manufacturer Service Manuals. In this way, the vast majority of Alco Gas Care’s clients can have their gas boiler properly serviced.

Boilers are built to be highly durable. If serviced once a year, they are usually not problematic.

According to a ‘Which?’ survey conducted in 2008 (www.which.co.uk), the average costs incurred for an annual boiler service including costs for incidental repairs, were less than half of the breakdown contract charges over a three (3) years period. Hence, a breakdown contract is not cost effective.

‘Which?’ conclude that consumers are generally better off using a reliable local engineer to undertake an annual service, and to repair faults if and when they occur, rather than take out a breakdown contract.

However, if you want some peace of mind, a more cost effective alternative would be to obtain cover for boiler breakdowns as part of your house insurance. Some insurance companies include this as standard, others offer it as an optional extra. The cost is usually much less than that of a breakdown contract, but you don’t get exactly the same benefits.

Please note, new boilers typically come with cover for parts and labour for up to five years, depending on the manufacturer.