Alan de Enfield

So why not just 'scrap' the existing fuel and use the £500+to buy new fuel ? When I had a problem I just got a 1000 litre IBC and pumped all the fuel out, got 200 litres of muck & water, pumped the fuel back in (not the rubbish) - sloshed it around - pumped it back out and refilled with fresh. If you have 'bug' in your fuel lines, filters etc then having your fuel 'polished' will not resolve the problem.

A boat being rented out also needs an annual Landlords gas and electric safety certificates.

The 3rd party element is when the gas system installed by a non-registered installer leaks, goes boom and sets the boat alongside / behind / in front on fire. A 'lived in boat' is more at risk of wear and tear and damage than a lesser used 'weekend boat'. Thats why car insurers charge differing premiums depending on annual mileage.

Boats, caravans and mobile homes that are used as residential come under the GSIUR regulations - where is @MtB when you need him. When does a boat become residential ? That is the problem - we would spend (maybe) 6 months living on the boat and cruising for the Summer, it was being used residentially but not for the full year. So why would a boat used for 12 months of the year require different safety tests/standards/examiners to a boat used for 6 months of the year. There are many types of vessels that use gas for heating and/or cooking. It’s a very convenient fuel but using gas is not without risk. This is why it’s important to ensure any gas appliances on a vessel are properly installed and maintained correctly and safely. It is important to recognise that where any gas work is in-scope of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR), any person undertaking gas work must hold suitable competencies and be Gas Safe registered. What does ‘in scope’ mean? Where the person(s) vessel is hired out for business i.e. rental, made available for the public as part of business like a restaurant, or, used primarily for domestic or residential purposes i.e. living accommodation, any person undertaking gas work would need to be Gas Safe registered. Further details can be found at the Health and Safety Executive website. What is gas work? The definition of ‘work’ in relation to a gas fitting lists specific activities which are: • maintaining, servicing, permanently adjusting, disconnecting, repairing, altering or renewing the fitting or purging it of air or gas; • where the fitting is not readily movable, changing its position; • removing the fitting Therefore, anyone undertaking ‘work’ on an in-scope vessel that could affect the above would need to be competent and Gas Safe registered. Which is exactly what has been said. Residential boats come under the 'GSIUR regs. Non-residential boat do not.

I think she is just bleating !

Are you kidding ?

They are not in a higher category, just a different category which is why they have ID cards marked with the various categories they can work on (like a driving licence for motocycle / car / bus etc) The regulations and practices for a boat installations are very different to (say) a caravan - if a caravan has a gas leak the gas will escape thru the (mandatory) gas vents (holes) in the floor and out into the 'fresh air'. In a boat, if the gas drains thru the floor it is captured in the bilges and will build up until it goes "BOOM" I have spoken with several Caravan qualified Gas Safe engineers regarding getting a boat gas qualification and they have all said it is ridiculously expensive, and consdering the number of residential boats they would never get their money back.

It was 1st introduced in the year 2002 BSS documentation.

A 'standard' BSS surveyor cannot (by law) do a gas check/ gas work on a liveaboard - he must be 'gas-safe' registered, unless a bubble tester is fitted. It is detailed in the BSS documents : Carrying out 'work on the gas system of boats used primarily for residential or domestic purposes fall within scope of a piece of UK legislation known as the Gas Safety [Installation and Use] Regulations (GSIUR). As such, the law demands that anyone contracted to 'work' on the LPG system of a boat in scope must be (LPG boats-competent) Gas Safe registered. As the definition of 'work' covers the removal and replacement of a screw nipple on a gas test point, the scope of the GSIUR includes carrying out BSS LPG tightness test. Therefore, on a boat in scope of GSIUR, examiners who are not Gas Safe registered can only complete check 7.12.2 (confirming gas tightness) by either: undertaking a gas tightness test using a bubble leak detector where fitted and correctly located; or, observing the tightness test conducted by a (LPG boats-competent) Gas Safe registered installer. Where a BSS Examiner who is also Gas Safe registered is undertaking a BSS Examination of a boat in scope of GSIUR such as if it is a boat used mainly for domestic/residential purposes, the Examiner could potentially identify safety-related LPG issues beyond the extent of the BSS Requirements. In doing so, they may feel duty-bound under their Gas Safe registration to report and discuss the additional issues. If in discussions additional works are agreed as necessary and the Gas Safe registered Examiner is chosen to carry out works to remedy the safety-related LPG issues, this must be undertaken by way of a contract that is entirely separate to the contract for the BSS examination. Does a bubble leak detector do away with the need for a Gas Safe registered engineer testing the gas system on residential boats? Yes, because any BSS Examiner can check for leaks using a fully functioning and appropriately located bubble tester. It is the case however that there is no BSS requirement for a bubble leak detector and so fitting one is matter of boat owner choice. Note that all other types of gas work, such as adding or replacing an appliance, needs to be conducted by a Gas Safe registered engineer with the LPG boat competence listed on his/her identity card.

You are correct - for many years it has been Aldi carrier bags - more robust than the Tesco ones.

Maybe, when it didn't fit ?

How do you decide you need to run the engine to chsrge th batteries ? How do you decide when to switch off the engine as the batteries are fully charged ?

That is probably lower than getting out of the well deck of a narroboat

A broker can do nothing that you cannot do (for example - they do not have any access to boat ownership documents) They simply add another link in the buying chain and there have been cases where the broker does a runner (or goes bust) and your money is gone. - both are not unknown. A broker is under no legal requirement to inform you about any defects - they are acting on behalf of the seller. As listed above, look for evidence that the boat belongs to the seller, and the seller is the owner, compare driving licence with the names and address on any boat documents. The term Caveat Emptor was written to describe buying a boat. What Does Caveat Emptor Mean? Caveat emptor, a Latin phrase meaning "let the buyer beware," implies that buyers take the risk in a transaction. Potential buyers are warned by the phrase to do their research and ask pointed questions of the seller. The seller isn't responsible for problems that the buyer encounters with the product after the sale.

Boat electrics are very different to automotive electrics - and - if he wires up a boat using the same methods as are used in autos you will have problems - and - if the boat requires a safety certificate it would probably fail. He may well be a very good automotive electrician (that is no recommendation for using him for marine electrics) but he probably just installs "stuff" and is not au fait with the actual workings and internal repairs of pieces of electronic kit. You wouldn't get (say) a Ford dealership to check and rewire/repair an alternator, they'd just replace it.