You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Given the number of wood burning stove topics here, and the plethora of Scottish folk, I'm sure there's a fair bit of crossover to offer some advice on this!
Currently buying a house in Scotland. House has a woodburner stove. During the missives process, my solicitor has asked for proof the stove was installed to building regs (back in 2011). There is no proof except a receipt for the stove shop, so the seller's solicitor has now sent the letter to the stove shop asking for a letter to confirm it was installed to 2011 building regs. The stove shop is only open 4hrs a week and if I was them, I'd be ignoring that letter completely in case of any liability etc.
All my stove-owning Scottish mates have no certificates/proof for their stoves as it's not a requirement in Scotland (except for one that got a HETAS cert anyway). AFAIK the installation has to comply to building regs, but there's no requirement to report on it, or have a HETAS certificate like in Eng/Wales. I also read stove fitters are reticent to inspect/confirm other installers work due to the difficulty in assessment post-install.
The estate agent says I should just instruct my solicitor to ignore the stove issue but they are obviously acting on behalf of the seller. There's only 2 weeks till the moving date and missives haven't been concluded due to this issue. I asked my solicitor what the "plan b" was when the stove shop ignores the seller's solicitor, but she just said that's the seller's problem!
Any advice? Just instruct my solicitor to ignore this? Chase the stove shop directly?
Tell the seller that you will either need proof of compliance or £1000 off so you can reinstall to standards?
Just a guess tho
If youre planning on living there for a long time, and the previous owners didn't die of carbon monoxide poisoning, I'd just crack on
In England this would normally be covered by the seller taking out indemnity insurance to cover it. Doesn't cost much, typically £100 - £200 Not sure if it's the same in Scotland?
All in all, it's a stove. They are not that complicated and it would have to be a very messed up install to be dangerous. As it's been used for 7 years and the house is still there and the owners still alive, I would guess it's probably be OK.
A good chimney sweep might be able to help, he can perform a leak test and will probably be able to give you a good idea of the condition of the installation.
So you're happy enough as is, but your solicitor has set the seller's solicitor onto the installer to confirm something they probably won't confirm, this has got everything stuck and no-one's bothered about moving it?
If that's the case, I'd call the installer, explain where you are, say that if there's no documentation available, can they just confirm that to the solicitor?
It'll come back to you for a decision, you say "fine".
I had mine installed (in Scotland) in 2011, and have no certificate, as it wasn't required.
Crack on.
I installed one in 2014 ish, all we have is a plaque attached to a nearby wall with the HETAS cert details. There was an open fire there previously so nothing much changed apart from a fire, a flue and a lovely bit of slate. We also get certs* from the sweep. (*of a sort.)
To be honest, if you're the sort to worry about it, how much peace of mind does the state of the job done eight years ago bring you? Budget to have it tested / inspected / brought up to current standards before you use it.
If you're the sort not to worry about it, install a CO detector and crack on, if it's been working for eight years, it must be reasonably OK.
Cheers everyone, does not having certs etc have an impact on my buildings insurance? They never asked anything about wood burners when I completed the application.
I think I'll chase the stove fitter tomorrow in the first instance. They've been around for ages, so I think they are pretty reputable ( http://www.thestoveshopfife.co.uk/).
Cheers everyone, does not having certs etc have an impact on my buildings insurance?
I've never been asked once whether we had a stove or not in any insurance application.
Talk to bedmaker on this forum.
We had one installed around 2014 as well with the HETAS cert on the sealed chimney, from memory we had to have the flue lined and insulated as part of the installation for fire prevention???
I had one installed in 2014. What's a certificate?
Really it is the sellers problem, but it will only be there problem if every other solicitor is going to ask the same question. Your solicitor should be able to tell you if this is a "no way" issue or a "risk you can assess", for example, it may be something he needs to disclose to your lender.
Can't say I'd be too fussed, providing it's a house you're really keen on. As long as it's drawing properly and not filling the house with CO I'd be fine with it.
If not having the certificate bothers you, you could either pay to have it re-installed or remove it. Compared to the cost of a house, the cost for either of those options won't be very significant.
Is your solicitor in England? Just asking as there may well be different rules .
Thanks everyone. Scottish solicitor.
Was about to send email to solicitor instructing the removal of the 'stove clause' if she hadn't heard by tomorrow, with the deadline of Tues 5th for conclusion of missives completely (10 days before move date).
Might just sit on it for a few more hours.. presumably the mortgage lender aren't interested in any of this? Ie they don't need to be notified? I can't see how even having a letter from the stove fitter would be satisfactory for them anyway if they were interested...
If i were the seller i'd disconnect the flue collar and pull the stove forward 200mil and jobs a good en.
You could always pay a good sweep to give it the once over for peace of mind and as other folk have iterated crack on.
And everything all changes! The solicitor managed to get a letter from the stove fitter. My solicitor asked if I was happy with that...it was a resounding yes! So hopefully missives conclude tomorrow and job done!
I'll get the chimney swept when i move in from a reputable sweep who can maybe check it at the same time.
Thanks everyone for the advice!!