When does a room become a compartment?

[AlexGas]

to combustibles

It says:

Clearance around the sides, front, above and below the appliance shall be provided in accordance with the appliance manufacturer’s instructions, or, in the absence of any such instructions, these clearances shall be a minimum of 75 mm to the sides, above, below and in front of the appliance.

 

[AlexGas]

It should say to combustible material as in BS 6789.

Back to BS 6798:2009

5.3.2 Boiler compartment installations
...

COMMENTARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON 5.3.2.1
If the boiler manufacturer’s installation instructions do not give specific advice, then any internal surface of the boiler compartment which is of combustible material should either be at least 75 mm from any part of the boiler or should be lined with non-combustible material. Methods of determining whether a material can be described as combustible or non-combustible are given in BS 476-22. For further advice, see HSE publication, Safety in the installation and use of gas systems andappliances [14].

 

[AlexGas]

Got pulled up by a manager the other day as on a job i diagnosed a glowworm ultimate 50bf with a faulty gas valve.
Now the room the boiler was installed in had a wc and a basin in and it never crossed my mind that this room was a compartment and my manager is calling me in as he says i shouldve ar'd the boiler as the room had no additional ventilation.
The room is also outside in a covered walk way at the side of a house
Just wanted to know what you guys think.

Did you read your CORGI book, page 78? It tells you what a compartment is. There's nothing about m3 though.

 

[AlexGas]

Was reading the BS again. Here's more:

From current BS 6798:2009
Specification for installation and maintenance of gas-fired boilers of rated input not exceeding 70 kW net

4.4 Location
COMMENTARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON 4.4
Room-sealed boilers may be installed in any room or space. It is not recommended that any type of boiler be installed in an understairs cupboard, bathroom or shower room, bedroom or bed-sitting room, or within a toilet or cloakroom, but such installations are acceptable subject to the requirements of 5.3.4 to 5.3.7.

5.3.4 Understairs cupboard installations
...
5.3.7 Toilet and cloakroom installations
The air vents from any boiler installed within a toilet or cloakroom shall be direct to outside air.

COMMENTARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON 5.3.7
Installation within a toilet or cloakroom should only be considered if there is no alternative location.

 

[AlexGas]

Mi for your boiler:
Where the boiler is fitted in a cupboard or compartment,
permanent high and low level ventilation must be provided.

If there are no signs of distress - it's never AR, your boss would be wrong! See the TB001.

 

[GrahamM]

Firstly, your boss is a numpty! Why would this be "AR"?

Secondly, I was taught to use a common sense approach in classifying as a compartment and the general rules are it is a compartment if it is not a normal habitable room(eg.broom cupboard) and is less than 5m³ volume.

 

[desrob]

i came across 38kw cf floorstanding boiler in a garage,should it have sized ventilation,as this did not ,been there for years no issues

 

[Rob Sale]

is it open flued or room sealed?

 

[tamz]

i came across 38kw cf floorstanding boiler in a garage,should it have sized ventilation,as this did not ,been there for years no issues

It still needs purpose provided ventilation even though there is probably enough adventitious ventilation.

Open flue boilers can't be fitted in a garage up here, the reason being flammable liquids (eg petrol) may be stored in a garage and an OF boiler could ignite it (which seems sensible enough to me)

 

[desrob]

is it open flued or room sealed?

cf,open flued if you like.

 

[stevetheplumber]

have you talked with your manager yet like to know the outcome of this if he over rules you id be tempted to call gas safe in

 

[moogwai]

Met the gaffer yesterday...to be fair he's a good a bloke who's only just come off the tools. Was still adament it's a compartment cos it was under 5m/3 but because it was an out side toilet and seldom used and he did tell me that when he did the post complete inspection he took one of the doors off ( the toilet had those salon doors on) so he didn't have to ar the boiler and advised the owner on the ventilation regs.

Nothing came of it and was just happy to have a chat about the regs....which to be honest did me some good as i needed brushing up on some stuff.....so all's well that ends well.

thanks a bunch for all your input lads.

 

[arran197]

I thought you said it was a BF or balanced flued?

 

[moogwai]

I thought you said it was a BF or balanced flued?

It was but mi's state cos its in a compartment it needs additional ventilation.

 

[arran197]

But did you have the MIs? In the absence, don't you consult the gas regs, which states that any RS boiler can be installed anywhere, but a consideration should be made before installing?

Having said that, BF boilers do get very hot don't they.

 

[moogwai]

no didn't have the mi's at the time didn't even give it a thought to be honest beings as like you say the boiler is room sealed and it was as far as i was concerned at the time it was a room and not a compartment! easy but silly mistake to make.

 

[kirkgas]

A BF boiler in a compartment with no vents must only be NCS, when would it be AR?

 

[Reg Man]

A BF boiler in a compartment with no vents must only be NCS, when would it be AR?

here here kirk. Balanced flue boiler compartment ventilation, thats if it is a compartment require for cooling air only. So if theres a toilet and basin in this space under 5m3. I think I would be more concerned with burning my bum on the boiler.

 

[Rob Sale]

it can't 5m cubed it its got a bog in it, it must be 5m squared floor space.

 

[GrahamM]

It was but mi's state cos its in a compartment it needs additional ventilation.

Dont know if you are confussing combustion ventilation with cooling ventilation?
If this is a Balanced Flue(BF) boiler as you state, this would only require cooling ventilation in an enclosed space and in absence of this would only ever be a NCS situation. This would never be AR!