Gas central heating with warm airflow

[dankat23]

Hi,

I am not sure what i am trade I am looking butt here is my question.
I am in the process of buying a house and the homebuyers survey said there might be possible asbestos in the ventilation pipes. The house was built in 1980.Who tests this ? I contacted an asbestos company and they said it needed a heating engineer?
Has anyone got any idea what I should be looking for or contacting?

 

[steadyon]

1. 1980's house - asbestos possible but unlikely.
2. From the mid-70's most of the ducting for warm air central heating was mild steel.
3. Homebuyer's surveys are often, at least in part, CYA exercises for the "surveyor".
4. I'd suggest the vents and registers (the slat plates from which the warm air gets into the rooms) need unscrewing and someone checking if the ducting behind is metal or not.
5. Its not a difficult job, but may slightly mar decoration. Handyman should be able to do it, but he / she needs to be warned of possible asbestos risk and told to stop if any duct not metal.

 

[dankat23]

Great! Thank you. That makes things easier !
The heating system hasn’t got a certificate either, I was wondering if a heating engineer could carry out the heating certificate and the inspection of the ventilation pipes. Do you know if this is possible?

 

[snowhead]

It's unlikely there will be asbestos in the steel ducts that distribute the warm air and are buried in the floor and walls.
I fitted warm air heating in my first house in 1972.

It's more likely that the warm air unit has an asbestos flue (pipe) going to outside and the heat exchanger within that unit may have asbestos rope seals.
Both the flue and seals could be replaced with non asbestos products if they are confirmed.

A heating enginer experienced in ducted units should be able to confirm from experience if there is asbestos present and could make the unit safe for an asbestos testing company to take samples.

However the approach I would take would be to assume there is asbestos, get an estimate to replace the whole unit and flue or to replace with a conventional wet heating system with radiators.
Then approach the seller and negotiate price reduction, unless they can prove by survey that there is no asbestos.
If they refuse either, walk away from the purchase.

As Steadyon has said, it may just be the surveyor covering themselves, but needs confirming.

 

[steadyon]

1. It isn't normal for any system to have a "certificate", unless it is very recently installed or the property has been let when a gas safety certificate is mandatory.
2. If you want to have a gas safety check done you can, subject to the owner's permission. Might put your mind at rest with respect to safety.
3. No reason why you shouldn't ask whoever is doing the check to test at least some of the ducts. Again you would need to warn of possible asbestos, and would need the current owner's permission, particularly as there islikely to be slight damage to decoration.

 

[dankat23]

Thank you. I have since found out that the heating system was replaced in 2012. When it is replaced to the check the pipe work as well?

 

[Chuck]

Thank you. I have since found out that the heating system was replaced in 2012. When it is replaced to the check the pipe work as well?

You're clutching at straws. At the moment the house and any problems belong to the current owner. Once you've bought, any problems become yours so you need to ensure that you can cover the risks. Discuss with your solicitor how to do this.

@snowhead's approach is the one I'd recommend. @steadyon's point about surveyor's covering themselves is valid but IME they don't suggest specialist surveys or invent risks like asbestos unless they have a good reason. Good surveyors know a lot about how the houses in a particular area were constructed and what problems are likely.

In my experience, many occupiers don't like ducted warm air heating much. The air movement can be annoying and makes the place feel colder than it is due to a sort of wind-chill effect. You may well want to get it replaced in any case.