Safety Issues Concerning Flues In Hidden Voids
Recently, the Gas Safe Register and Health and Safety Executive have raised serious safety concerns in respect of the use of heating appliance flues located in internal voids within buildings. A working party cross-government group has been created to deal with these safety concerns and registered social landlords have been consulted and requested to help identify any situations involving gas boiler flues passing through internal voids.
The safety issues surround the installation of boilers fixed to internal walls in properties where the flue is directed through an area containing a void, for example, a vertical flue passing through a ceiling into the floor area above and no inspection cover is installed. Since this hidden part of the flue cannot be properly inspected, a compromised flue in the void area may release significant amounts of products of combustion, including carbon monoxide, into living or sleeping areas, which could be lethal to residents.
With progression of technology during the last decade, manufacturers of heating appliances can now provide installers with longer lengths of flue gas discharge pipe work that can also turn in several directions. Although the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 places a legal duty on all landlords to check the fittingness and effectiveness of a heating appliance flue, residents are often unaware of the path and direction of flues concealed in voids and may mistaken staining on a ceiling surface that is caused by products of combustion and/or flue condensate, as a water or grease stains and more so when the boiler is located in a kitchen.
Emphasis has been put on notifying residents, particularly those who own or rent flats and apartments that were constructed or refurbished between 2000 and 2007, of these safety concerns through various initiatives including newsletters, trade talks and meetings. New buildings constructed over this period could also be identified using the house stock database which will help the industry provide a means of inspecting the properties for possible safety concerns and install appropriate inspection covers that comply with relevant standards and current regulations.
Obviously, every heating professional who services and maintains gas boilers are in a unique position to identify flues that are concealed and take the necessary action to remedy the problem. From the data collected, heating professionals will also be able to identify a pattern that may exist on a particular housing estate giving a clear indication that other properties on the estate might be at risk from the same problem. As a further precaution, heating professionals should also carry out an ambient carbon monoxide build up test using a flue gas analyser in all habitable areas where the flue passes through to ensure dangerous carbon monoxide levels are not present when the heating appliance is operating.
Plumbers And Charity Call For Mandatory Use Of Flue Gas Analysers
CO-Gas Safety, the carbon monoxide charity, has teamed up with a London based plumbing business to call for the compulsory use of flue gas analysers by heating professionals when inspecting gas-heating appliances.
It is widely understood that to complete a gas safety inspection, it would not be possible to do so without the use of an electronic analyser. However, The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 does not stipulate the use of flue gas analysers.
The charity and the plumbing company have branded the current regulation as ‘madness’. Managing Director of Pimlico Plumbers, Charlie Mullins, stated: “The current regulation is madness and puts so many people at risk. It is total common sense to clarify the regulations and make this equipment mandatory. At the moment it’s like sending a soldier into a minefield without a mine detector.”
Mr Mullins business is paving the way forward and hopes to set an industry standard by supplying all of his Gas Safe registered engineers with flue gas analysers, which surpass the requirements of the 1998 Regulations.
President and Director of CO-Gas Safety, Stephanie Trotter, called for a change in the current legislation during the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Gas Safety Group at the House of Lords, where Mr Mullins company was also present.
Mr Mullins said: “The reaction from the cross-party parliamentary group to our calls was positive, but I am not waiting around for any changes. By giving my engineers the analysers, we are adding to their safety and the safety of the people using the gas appliances they inspect. We are drawing a line in the sand to say this is how gas inspections should be carried out and hope the rest of the industry follows our lead.”
Ms Trotter also stated: “Since 1995, nearly six hundred people have died that we know about from carbon monoxide poisoning and we know we only see the tip of the iceberg. It is ridiculous that a gas safety check does not require the use of equipment to test appliances from this invisible killer.”