Gas installations for heating and hot water have become a common feature in our homes for over 20 years. Today, and thanks to their versatility, they are still used can compete head-to-head against renewable technologies like the biomass wave geothermal, due to the greater degree of confidence that ordinary consumers have, since buying a gas boiler is, from the start, much cheaper than a heat pump or a biomass boiler.
Thanks to its implementation (46% of homes with heating, 32% of the total) in Almost a third of Spanish households, the picaresque has been attacking the sector for many years now. Without going any further, in the last two weeks I have been able to see on TV more than one reportage about some companies that, allegedly, deceive consumers by carrying out false inspections of their boiler, gas leaks or the appearance of harmful gases due to poor combustion. They take advantage of people who are completely uninformed, elderly people or even those affected by some disability or handicap.
For this reason, I thought it would be interesting to gather some information and explain it as clearly as possible. What types of reviews exist by law and how often must we undergo them?
– Periodic inspection of facilities
It refers to the visit that technicians from gaseous fuel distribution companies (natural gas, LPG, butane, etc.) must make, in which The pipes that connect our boiler to the user or building key are checked (counter), what is commonly called the gas installation.
This visit is carried out every 5 years, and it is the responsibility of the users; hence we have to pay for it. The distributor must notify us at least 5 days in advance of the date of the visit, and their request for us to facilitate access to the facility. If the result is favorable, they will complete and give us a inspection certificate (model available in the document cited below). If, on the other hand, they detect any irregularity, they will give us a anomaly report, so that we can take charge of correcting them.
This information is referred to in the RD 919/2006, which approves the technical regulations for the distribution and use of gaseous fuels and its complementary technical instructions; specifically on page 27 of the next document.
– Preventive maintenance inspection of equipment
It refers to the visit that a maintenance company makes to us Check our boiler or heaterIt is somewhat confusing which company should do it for us, since it is a service that they will offer us through several channels:
- He manufacturer of our team: logically, as he knows of the existence of a team of his brand in our home, he will offer us the maintenance service that he deems most appropriate.
- The distribution company: They know that we consume gas because they bill us every two months, so they contact us to offer us the equipment maintenance service, just like the manufacturer does.
- Other authorized companies, registered with the Industry for this purpose: they are companies independent of the two previous ones (they could be “Paco” facilities) and, if they are duly registered and have qualified personnel, they can also carry out boiler maintenance without any problem.
The periodicity of this review is annual., and we can contract the service with whomever we want. There will be those who will prefer the manufacturer, others the distributor and also those who value the opinion of their trusted installer more.
This is regulated in the Regulation of Thermal Installations in Buildings (RITE), which was approved by RD 1027/2007 and affects not only gas installations, but also diesel, biomass or electrical installations. You can look at this link, on page 43, where Technical Instruction IT 3 on maintenance and use begins.
The function of the RITE is to ensure the operation of the equipment during its useful life with the maximum energy efficiency, environmental protection and guaranteeing safety. In fact, it was this regulation that introduced the Energy Certificate of Buildings (new construction) which is now so much in the spotlight within our borders.
I would like to complete the information with a link to a couple of institutional publications, focused on informing citizens on these issues:
either Gas installations, rights and obligations of the user (Government of Cantabria)
either Gas, with responsibility and safety (Castilla y León Regional Government brochure)
I hope that the information has been of interest to you and has helped you to resolve any doubts you may have regarding your installations.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
