Is your flue a safe flue?

Does your home have a gas central heating system? Is your boiler situated away from an external wall? If so, then it is likely that your flue runs through your wall or ceiling void and so you need to be considering having new inspections hatches installed, warns Helen Porter, Litigation Lawyer.

When fan-flued gas appliances were introduced in the mid 1990s, houses, flats and apartments were able to be built using available space on internal walls for placement of gas central heating boilers. This practice allowed some flues to be placed inside stud walls and voids in ceilings.

This method of concealment has become more popular as the years have gone on with the vast majority of affected systems thought to be in new build flats and apartments built since 2000. However, other properties with similar central heating systems could also be affected.

“Clearly concealed flues cannot be easily accessible for inspection,” explains Helen.  “This has led to technical guidance being issued in January 2011 requiring inspection hatches be fitted to properties with a concealed flue. If you are the home owner then you only have until 31^st December 2012 to arrange for inspection hatches to be installed in your property.

“If you fail to carry out this work any gas engineer working on your system after 1^st January 2013 will advise you that the system is at risk and with your permission will turn off the gas supply to the boiler so that it cannot be used. Following this a registered gas engineer will be required to carry out risk assessment which should ensure that the risk from exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) is managed in the short term.”

Helen advises, “If you are unsure as to whether or not your home may be at risk then you should contact a registered Gas Safe Engineer who will be able to advise if this applies to your property.  Unless you are a qualified Gas Safe Engineer you MUST NOT attempt to check the flue system yourself. You could do more harm and damage to the system and place you and your family at a greater risk. Unless qualified to do so DO NOT attempt to fit the inspection hatches yourself you may well end up damaging your walls and ceilings along with wiring, pipe work and fire and noise proofing.”

If you live in rented accommodation your landlord must be notified immediately as it is their responsibility to ensure that the property’s gas appliances and flues are serviced every year.

Helen concludes, “If you live in a block of flats where the flues may go through other flats then you need to bring this to the attention of the managing agent, landlord or management company as soon as possible.”

For any further advice or information on this topic, please contact Helen or the Warner Goodman Commercial Team on 02380 717717, or visit their website www.warnergoodman.co.uk.

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.