A Guide to Getting a New Boiler Installed
Legislation in the UK dictates that if you want to have a new boiler installed, in order to comply with gas safety regulations, it is a pre-requisite that you employ the services of a Council of Registered Gas Installers (CORGI) registered installer.
In terms of professional qualifications for oil based boiler system installation, you should check that the installer is registered in one of the following Competent Persons Schemes:
Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors Ltd
Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation
Institute of Domestic Heating & Environmental Engineers
NAPIT Registration Ltd
NICEIC Group Ltd
Oil Firing Technical Association Ltd
It is vitally important that you do your homework when having a boiler installed for you because there are unfortunately a number of installers who are simply not qualified for the job – CORGI estimate the figure to be as high as 20,000 rogue installers!
Do not take any risks with regards to having your boiler installed. Gas can be a killer, so only use fully qualified installers.
You may want to shortlist a number of firms and then conduct your own checklist against their services. Questions that you should consider asking when considering a firm are:
What professional qualifications does the installer/firm have (and seek documentary proof)?
How long has the boiler installation firm been in business?
Does the firm have premises and phone numbers that check out?
Can the company provide references from past customers?
It is important to try to ascertain the professional central heating installation companies from the rogue traders so consider the following issues:
Does the company offer a discount for cash? If so, this is a sign that the company is less then reputable.
Can they start the job straight away? If they can, this is not a good sign, as all the best tradespersons will have a full schedule.
Is their appearance smart or uniformed, and are they courteous in their manner?
Most importantly, do they provide an itemised invoice? You do not want to be paying for miscellaneous “extras”.
When your boiler has been installed by a CORGI registered installer or a member of a Competent Persons Scheme you will receive a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate from CORGI or your Competent Persons Scheme member after the work has been completed. This certificate will act as proof that the work that has been undertaken to the relevance Building Regulations standards. It is important that you keep any certificates related to work conducted on your boiler, as these will need to be produced should you wish to sell your home.
Boiler installation recommendation
It is entirely possible that you could have your boiler system installed by a qualified local firm in a safe and inexpensive way, however, this will invariably involve a lot of background research as to whether the credentials of the firm.
This being the case, it is safest to opt for an established, national company that specialises in installing central heating systems, will not go out of business and have excellent aftercare plans such as the HomeCare boiler maintenance plan. For these reasons we would recommend that you have your boiler installed by a British Gas fitter.
British Gas have 5,500 registered engineers who are all CORGI registered and have been offering central heating services for over 50 years. They will not only install your boiler but, they will be able to advise on the best boiler buy for your situation and provide aftercare in the form of the excellent HomeCare boiler maintenance service.