corgi inspection and changeover

[G. Lasagne]

Anyone had a corgi inspection recently?

I have been in business nearly 2 years and still have not had an inspection.

Just curious on the procedure and how it went?

There's that many grey areas at the moment especially with regards to energy efficiency i.e what controls you must have (room stat / trv's).
what size the condensate should be etc etc.

A friend had one recently and was told trv's must be fitted in every single room, the condensate must be 40mm when outside, the overflow pipe must be 15mm from the wall, the list goes on and on.

I always carry out all work by the book, but "the book" changes that much you never know where you stand, i know its our responsibility to find out the changes, but its not always viable to ring corgi before you start every single job.

Any experiences, and did you choose the job, or was it a spot check?

Also while im on, is everybody ready for the changeover form CORGI to Gas safe?

Dave:|

[chartergas]

depends on your inspector - my initial inspector was a rude ******* thankfully never saw him again but on my 6 month inspection i had a very good inspector and i have not seen him since either - which can only come down to me high on th elist of not to bother

he just asked simple stuff like how to do a tightness tes
ventilation regs
allowable locations
cross bonding
and trvs

should be a walk in the park

trvs in every room -imho is a load of toss!!!!!!
zone valves are a waste time within reason
and there should always be a modulating room stat and every installtoin should be weather compensated where possible!!

[Eagle]

I heard it was Capita (http://www.ukbusinesslabs.co.uk/forums/bricks-mortar/1021-trade-associations.html)?

[G. Lasagne]

I heard it was Capita (http://www.ukbusinesslabs.co.uk/forums/bricks-mortar/1021-trade-associations.html)?

It is capita your right but the name for the scheme is the Gas Safe Register.

[G. Lasagne]

depends on your inspector - my initial inspector was a rude ******* thankfully never saw him again but on my 6 month inspection i had a very good inspector and i have not seen him since either - which can only come down to me high on th elist of not to bother

he just asked simple stuff like how to do a tightness tes
ventilation regs
allowable locations
cross bonding
and trvs

should be a walk in the park

trvs in every room -imho is a load of toss!!!!!!
zone valves are a waste time within reason
and there should always be a modulating room stat and every installtoin should be weather compensated where possible!!

thanks great advice,
I only put Trv's on if the customer wants them, i always advise it to be the best practice but not gonna force them by gunpoint to have them, i do however fit a roomstat as standard. i also heard cross bonding is no longer a neccessity (across the 5 pipes) and only equipotential bonding on the meter is needed.

[chartergas]

cross bonding is omitted only if there is a mai RCD on the incoming fuseboard otherwise you still need it (not that i see why you as the boiler is already earthed and the boiler itself is a manifold for the water heating and gas pipes to all be eartherd!!)

Gas angel may i suggest you get to know about wetaher compensation and modulating controls its i sthe future of heating systems until the EU directive is introduced

[CKG]

I do alot of geothermal installations and the control spec you need on them is way out of line with what building regs want.

We have absolutely no zone control on underfloor heating or rads and no easily adjustable user controls on the heat pump.

It is all taken care of by a whole bunch of sensors and a computer.

And building regs and other tap washer plumbers moan like fcuk when they see it - What the hell do they know about modern heating technology? Zip obviously.

Same with cross bonding a combi. Run a continuity tester through the pipes and they're all linked anyway - so it's utterly pointless in my opinion.

Plumbers love *****ing and point scoring each others work for so called faults - so confusion in the regs can make them feel better about them selves when they spot a 'fault'.

Some dork plumber condemed one of our installations not so long ago because of no cross bonding on the combi.

He told the home owner they could have been electrocuted at any time and instructed them to report me to CORGI.

I've only been inspected by Corgi once in 6 years. They do random inspections now through the work notification scheme. You only know about it after its been done.

That's utter ******** too. They're ment to be policing un registered guys. And with quite alot of the gas regs being down to the disgretion on the guy installing it is quite possible they may pull you up on a fault that isn't a fault in your eyes.

Such a petty minded industry! I hate it!

[chartergas]

Well said CKG

"the control spec you need on them is way out of line with what building regs want."


Part L was written without consideration for waether compensation or low heat and efficient systems, Part L is utterly useless
except showing some clowns how to size a boiler and telling them to put a room stat on- well done!!!!

Im still yet to see a boiler properly sized in a house!!! they are always way too big


"other tap washer plumbers moan like fcuk when they see it - What the hell do they know about modern heating technology? Zip obviously"

Absoultely agree and can prove this by all the ATAG warranty or call outs i go to - these are great boilers but nobody seems to be able to get 100% on th einstalltion side which is theasy part and so far everyone has faild on sytem set up and boiler parameters!!!!!


What sort of geothermal stuff are you doing??? heat pumps???

are you doing air source heat too??

[G. Lasagne]

I do alot of geothermal installations and the control spec you need on them is way out of line with what building regs want.

We have absolutely no zone control on underfloor heating or rads and no easily adjustable user controls on the heat pump.

It is all taken care of by a whole bunch of sensors and a computer.

And building regs and other tap washer plumbers moan like fcuk when they see it - What the hell do they know about modern heating technology? Zip obviously.

Same with cross bonding a combi. Run a continuity tester through the pipes and they're all linked anyway - so it's utterly pointless in my opinion.

Plumbers love *****ing and point scoring each others work for so called faults - so confusion in the regs can make them feel better about them selves when they spot a 'fault'.

Some dork plumber condemed one of our installations not so long ago because of no cross bonding on the combi.

He told the home owner they could have been electrocuted at any time and instructed them to report me to CORGI.

I've only been inspected by Corgi once in 6 years. They do random inspections now through the work notification scheme. You only know about it after its been done.

That's utter ******** too. They're ment to be policing un registered guys. And with quite alot of the gas regs being down to the disgretion on the guy installing it is quite possible they may pull you up on a fault that isn't a fault in your eyes.

Such a petty minded industry! I hate it!

couldnt agree more mate!
If you ring CORGi with a query they tell you to use your judgement, so why inspect you then, its a total contradiction.

have you ever had a spot inspecton? They would have to contact the customer first though surely? and not turn up unannounced.

i know the work i carry out is safe and by the book but our livelihoods depend on that registration, which frightens me.

[CKG]

What sort of geothermal stuff are you doing??? heat pumps???

are you doing air source heat too??

Yes. We go all over the UK doing ground source. Got the drill rigs and stuff at our disposal too.

Never done air source.

have you ever had a spot inspecton? They would have to contact the customer first though surely? and not turn up unannounced.

Never had one myself. My father in law has though, they organise it properly and I gather the customer was quite re-assured by the inspection.

I get the feeling capita are going to be a bit more hands off and alot less money grabbing than CORGI were. Though they could be luling me into a false scense of security.

Have you noticed how CORGI are now making offers, giving away freebies and generally trying to make joining them easier - like spreading the cost over 10 months and putting effort into generating work leads for us...The swines!

[G. Lasagne]

yeah i know i am renewing my membership for at least a year until the consumers are fully aware of the change, and like you say the benfits are quite appealing unlike when they had the scheme.