David Sampson MCIPHE RP - For all your Gas, Central Heating & Boiler work

House Buying


A report on the gas installation for a homebuyer would normally involve a visual check on the installation to determine if there were any obvious faults. In particular the flues of the boiler and any fires would be closely examined to check if they were sealed from the room, and to check that they terminated sufficiently far away from any windows. Ventilation of rooms with cookers or gas fires is also an important requirement. A number of specific tests would normally be carried out, the main one being the 'tightness' (or soundness) test - this checks for any leakage of the installation. Subject to the above checks being satisfactory, an operation check would be carried out on each appliance. It should be noted that any defect found that could constitute a risk to safety under the Gas regulations could result in any appliance or the installation being isolated and a warning notice issued. This may be a problem if you are not already the owner of the property and should be made clear to the vendor before inspection takes place

A report on the gas installation for a homebuyer would normally involve a visual check on the installation to determine if there were any obvious faults. In particular the flues of the boiler and any fires would be closely examined to check if they were sealed from the room, and to check that they terminated sufficiently far away from any windows. Ventilation of rooms with cookers or gas fires is also an important requirement. A number of specific tests would normally be carried out, the main one being the 'tightness' (or soundness) test - this checks for any leakage of the installation. Subject to the above checks being satisfactory, an operation check would be carried out on each appliance.

It should be noted that any defect found that could constitute a risk to safety under the Gas regulations could result in any appliance or the installation being isolated and a warning notice issued. This may be a problem if you are not already the owner of the property and should be made clear to the vendor before inspection takes place