Landlord plumbers advise required

[gmartine]

Advice not advise

I attended a boiler breakdown (condensate) and spent most of the 2 hrs unblocking the sink outlet which was fairly solid with fat that had obviously been poured down the sink. Client wanted to know if they could claim it from their tennants/agency (18mths) and tbh I didn't know for sure but said you should try as they were responsible for blocking the condensate. You wouldn't try and claim back for a normal boiler breakdown, do they have a case?

 

[Sharp Point]

It boils my p@ss, when I go to a blocked sink from lazy gits who can’t be arsed to disposed of fat properly. It’s as bad as rodding drains, that grease is thick and gets everywhere.


Oh and stinks

 

[Harvest Fields]

If it was the first time I would say no. If it happens again then yes. As they could claim they didn’t know it would block.

 

[Last Plumber]

I would invoice my customer as per usual for all costs involved and email it over with a brief report giving the cause of Boiler failure.
I would not get involved in the decision over who should pay.

 

[gmartine]

Client paid invoice immediately it was issued the other night, I've attended this normally tidy flat before and this time the whole place was in a dreadful state. Complete and utter sty, rubbish and food everywhere, sink taps broken, barely see the carpet, toilet and bathroom a mess etc etc.

I don't think the client was trying to drag me in as I genuinely didn't know just an innocent question about whether she could claim it from the tennants or not.

 

[SimonG]

Feel where you are coming from. You feel a duty of care.

But, a big but, always find you get the sh!tty end of the stick in these sort of situations.

 

[gmartine]

Up to a point Si, this is really between landlord, agency and tennants. I've been paid, invoice states what was done and why so it's up to them to interpret who is ultimately responsible. Although I agree with Harvest I'm not sure ignorance is a defence as the landlord's I've dealt with in the past still manage to get tennants to pay for just about everything.

 

[Chuck]

Does the landlord get his solicitor to service the boiler? If not, there's your answer.

My advice is don't get drawn into other people's disputes. Just keep what you say strictly to evidence-based facts and keep records (photos, worksheet, notes written at the time) just in case it ends up in Court.

 

[Rob Foster]

Client paid invoice immediately it was issued the other night, I've attended this normally tidy flat before and this time the whole place was in a dreadful state. Complete and utter sty, rubbish and food everywhere, sink taps broken, barely see the carpet, toilet and bathroom a mess etc etc.

I don't think the client was trying to drag me in as I genuinely didn't know just an innocent question about whether she could claim it from the tennants or not.

I do report back to landlord if there is an issue outside my remit...often get thanked
Rob Foster ...centralheatking

 

[Ric2013]

The tenant is usually contractually required to clear pipes when they become blocked with the tenant's waste. Whether this is in the Housing Act or not, I'm not sure though, so this might not be legally enforceable.

 

[Best]

If you do a blame the tenant report, then going to be very unpleasant if the landlord asks you to do more work at same tenants.
I try to stay very friendly with tenants, but report verbally to landlords if I see any damage tenants have done.

 

[Tim S]

I work for several letting agents and often end up unblocking sink traps etc due to oils/fats being poured away by the tenants. I normally advise the tenant of the problem but don't apportion blame. A report of the cause with photo's and my invoice then goes to the agents and they can decide whether to charge the tenant. I've found it best to just resolve the problem and let the agents/landlord/tenants sort it out between themselves .