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My understanding is if it involves opening a combustion chamber seal (which changing a drum would certainly do), you require Gas Safe registration. I changed a motor capacitor for one of these (which I seem to remember involved removing a small cover from the back panel) and found out afterwards even that seemed to be a grey area:
The Sale of Goods Act is no longer in force. It has been replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The following link provides a useful summary.
Once the customer has had the item for 6 months, the onus is on them to prove the item was faulty when they bought it. So Which? suggest they would need an expert report to prove this. I suspect there is fat chance of obtaining that after 3.5 years.
So in summary, goods you sell have to be fault free when you sell them. If a fault develops, you are only liable to offer recompense if the failure was caused by a defect in design, manufacture or quality.
Re: Bosch or Makita SDS hammer drills?
Hire or buy? If you hire, try to find an independent hire shop, as I found their prices worked out much cheaper than the national chains.
I hired an 11kg Bosch SDS-max demolition hammer recently to remove 35 sq m of floor tiles from a concrete floor. Even with a tile chisel it was pretty much a couple of days’ work, with breaks, although I removed pretty much all traces of tile adhesive. Anything smaller and lighter would have been a nightmare to use. Only afterwards when my hands were knackered did I read HSE guidelines which recommend breakers should be used for no more than 1 hour per day to avoid vibration injury.
Re: Letting Agent Contracts
I think there’s fat chance of an agent signing a contractor’s terms and conditions. They will probably just give you reassuring words. If they are a well-run agent, the chances of something going wrong are minimal.
Ultimately the landlord is responsible for paying. The agent is merely selecting you as a contractor on behalf of the landlord and doing the associated admin. You’d be hard pushed to find an agent that will accept liability for anything (except as required by law or their code of practice). The clue is in the name – “agent”.
There is no general “surplus fund” from which to pay bills. Every property has its own rent account, which gets siphoned off regularly to pay the landlord. This is quite apart from the deposit, which by law must be ring-fenced for the duration of the tenancy. That is why invoices are only paid once the next month’s rent has been received. If there’s not enough rent income to pay the bill, the landlord is liable to pay.
Re: Letting Agent Contracts
I think all agents work on this basis – ie they are acting as agents for the landlord only, and are not responsible for the debt, with contractors paid from rent. That is certainly the case with all the agents that I have worked with, and stated in their terms and conditions (or at least those that informed me of their terms and conditions). I don’t worry about that too much, but am very choosy about which agents I will accept work from.
Re: School Gas & Electric Cooker installation work query
It seems from the Gas Safe Register website that the terms domestic or commercial relate more to the type of appliance and the size of pipe than to the type of premises, although some discretion is required, with the required competence being determined on a case by case basis:
“If you’re unsure what would be classified as domestic and commercial work then our definitions below may help…
Domestic
Relates to those gas appliances that are designed for use in a domestic property, as well as gas pipework up to 35mm in diameter, again in domestic property.Note: There may be instances in larger domestic properties where non-domestic appliances and larger pipework maybe required. In these cases appropriate non-domestic work categories may be necessary.
Commercial
In the context of work categories and competence, this refers to the size of pipework, appliance type/gas consumption in addition to the property type. However, the property type is not the sole criteria. For example, a ‘domestic’ gas boiler installed in a church may in certain circumstances still be considered a ‘domestic’ appliance regardless of being installed in a ‘non domestic’ property.Often appropriate competence can only be determined on a case by case basis. If in doubt, contact us to check.”
If I were you I would wait for your inspector to return from holiday before rushing into this.
Re: IZettle check your interest rates
I chose iZettle for it’s good quality chip and pin card reader. Paypal and SumUp readers are similar, though don’t look as nice quality. Handing over my smartphone to take payment on Square didn’t appeal to me. Fees for all these systems are all pretty much the same except for Paypal, who still vary the fee percentage according to volume of sales.
Re: IZettle check your interest rates
Cheeky! I think it changed they changed some time last year. I’ve been using iZettle since November 2017 @1.75{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}, but still take cheques from most customers, which my bank processes free.
Re: The use of manufacturer names on vehicles
You are right. There’s an Aston Martin specialist I drive past now and again that for donkeys years displayed an old Aston Martin sign at the top of the building, but I’ve noticed recently, this has been removed. It now just says in small plain text below the garage name “Aston Martin Specialist”. Their website carries a prominent disclaimer that they have no connection with Aston Martin themselves other than selling their parts. So I assume Aston Martin eventually caught up with them and came knocking at their door.
Re: The use of manufacturer names on vehicles
Legally, you need permission from the trade mark holder. Even the name on its own is probably a registered trade mark. For example Hotpoint is registered as a name and as a logo. You’re ok using the name as part of a desciption of what you do, as long as the way it is presented doesn’t mimic the logo or suggest manufacturer endorsement. This would fall foul of trade desciptions law also. I suspect if you asked permission, you’d be turned down, as you’d be in direct competion with their own networks.
Re: washing machines in the back of vans!
What a brilliant idea – helping these poor folk recover some dignity. And more work for independent repairers too!
Re: appliance fires
My wife came home to this sight on Wednesday:
[attachment=6:110zf8h9]IMG_1027[1].jpg[/attachment:110zf8h9]
and round the corner:
[attachment=0:110zf8h9]IMG_1030[1].jpg[/attachment:110zf8h9]
I went round later to identify the culprit (2004 Bosch dishwasher):There was no-one at home but luckily a neighbour was in, heard the smoke alarm and smelt smoke. The house is structurally sound but uninhabitable. The owner was unaware of the recall – she had bought it with the house 7 years ago. Is there any chance BSH could be held liable?
Re: Laundry giving me the run around
Whatever you do, don’t lose the bounced cheque or give it back to the customer, as the court will take it as proof of debt.
Re: Laundry giving me the run around
It’s an open and shut case, really. Being a business customer, there is no consumer contracts legislation to complicate things. And as they’re not a limited company, the business owner is personally liable for the debt. Just make sure everything is documented in case you need to issue a County Court claim. You have six years to start proceedings, so there is no immediate panic, although I wouldn’t hang around before stepping up the pressure.
