Did your boiler breakdown in the property you are renting? Here are some tips for you.
Boiler Breakdown
It is not uncommon to experience a boiler breakdown especially when you first turn on your heater after the summer months. This is definitely not the best time to have your boiler breakdown on you, but especially if you don’t get regular boiler service, it will happen. While you may think its easy to call up an engineer to come out and do a boiler repair, its not the case when you live in a rental property.
When you live in a rental property, you don’t always have control over your boiler repair. Here are some tips for you:
Your Landlord’s Responsibility
Your landlord is not only responsible for installing your heating system, but also for keeping it maintained. Landlords of rented residential properties are required by the law to have a gas safety check, including a gas boiler service, done one a year on all gas appliances that they provide their tenants.
The appliances must be in good working and safe condition, and landlords are required to provide a copy of the gas safety check certificate to the tenants. The certificate must be 12 months old or newer. Any repairs, services or installations must be done only by gas safe registered engineers.
What to do with a boiler breakdown
If you determine that your boiler is definitely broken, don’t try to fix it yourself. This is potentially dangerous, as handling gas appliance problems can lead to accidents if you are not experienced or trained. At the same time, you may also be invalidating your home warranty or your boiler cover.
Do not call an engineer yourself either. If you do this, you may end up having to pa for the cost of the repair, parts, labor or installation.
Instead, talk to your landlord first. You can even try sending a written application for heating system home improvement if your boiler is no longer running efficiently. Its important to resolve a boiler breakdown as soon as possible, especially during the cold months.
