Property Clinic

Q Please can you help me? My house is over 35 years old. It's a large house about 372sq m (4,000sq ft). My boiler is on its last legs and I need to replace it. My husband says that we can't as it will burst all our old pipes. Can you advise on what boiler to buy and where to buy one? It's gas oil that I buy. Can you tell me how much approximately it would cost as we haven't a clue? And where to go to purchase? Please help.

A Firstly I can advise that boilers can be and are regularly replaced in isolation when they reach the end of their useful life, without any significant impact on the existing pipework.

A potential problem, however, is that if the pipework is very old - say 30-35 years plus - then the pipework may be in poor condition and in need of attention, or possibly even replacement. This is when the problem is with the pipework and not with the boiler.

In fact, a good efficient new boiler can be spoiled by old existing pipework, particularly if there is debris within the pipework/system or corrosion to the pipework which can affect the performance of the heat exchangers within a new high efficiency boiler.

It is unfortunate, if the pipework is very old or in poor condition, as you may also have to look at upgrading or replacing the pipework at the same time.

There is a wide range of boiler types and it is a very open question as to what boiler to buy. Firstly, you need to consider the fuel source. I note that you are on oil and you need to consider the cost of this together with the storage requirements and indeed the risk of smells and leaks and possibly even theft.

Gas may be an option if there is a gas supply in your area. As an alternative you should consider green energy, such as wood pellets or an alternative energy renewal source, but you would need to consider how you can store the fuel.

When you have decided on the fuel source, you can then choose the most appropriate type of boiler.

Boilers can be purchased directly in plumbing and heating merchant suppliers but you should be mindful that you also need to get the boiler fitted and thus it is probably better to do this through your plumbing and heating contractor. They can source the boiler directly for you as part of the service of fitting the boiler.

Boiler prices will vary somewhat for a house in the order of 372sq m (4,000sq ft). I would expect the boiler to cost in the order of €1,400 inclusive of Vat. You would then have to allow an additional €1,100/€1,200 to get the boiler fitted.

The best way to approach this is to seek quotations from reputable plumbing and heating contractors and it is our experience that they will offer free quotations for works of this nature.

The only potential downside with this approach is that you may get some conflicting views and, if there is any doubt over this, you could seek some professional advice from a chartered building surveyor who would be able to advise on the most appropriate solution in the circumstances.

I would also point out that there are grants available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (seai.ie) towards the cost of boiler replacement and this is worth following up.

Val O'Brien is a chartered building surveyor (scsi.ie)

Q A few years ago I bought a shop in a small development of several apartments and shops. I did my time on the management company and all bills were paid and fees collected. However, in recent times the funds have been running low in the management company current account with bins and other bills left unpaid. After some investigation it appears that the owners of the two-bed apartments colluded without the knowledge of the shop owners to change their annual fees to that of a one-bed. Is this legal? It was never discussed at an AGM, and there was never any written communication to this effect with other shop owners. What can now be done to recoup the money?

A No it is not legal. The service charge budget must be apportioned strictly in accordance with the Head Lease. If the services are commonly enjoyed by all units then the lease will usually prescribe the percentage payable according to unit type and size. Therefore a one-bed apartment will generally pay a lower rate than a two-bed calculated on the percentage ratio of its area to the overall square footage. The contributions together must amount to 100 per cent of the budget to fund the services in the development.

No owner or group of owners is permitted to alter the arrangements. The percentages are contracted into at purchase and any proposal to alter the rate would require the formal written consent of the other owners, including you. Clearly you would not agree as a reduction to one owner must mean a simultaneous increase to another.

In terms of what can now be done to recoup the money. Make contact immediately with the board of directors of your Owners' Management Company (OMC) and the managing agent if one exists. Seek information and clarification so that the arrangement can be reversed and funding recharged correctly. You may also need to contact the accountants who last audited your OMC's accounts so that you can ascertain when the alteration was first made and how far back the correction should go.

If there is resistance, the provisions of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 (MUD Act), may assist you. The MUD Act is new legislation which mandates new standards of governance, particularly in how an OMC operates and reports to the owners.

In effect the MUD Act requires the directors to ensure that the service charge budget is adequate and can cover the running costs of the development and pay its bills.

Secondly, it mandates that the directors must present their proposed budget to the owners at a general meeting where it must be approved by the owners before it is billed out.

The owners who decided to reduce their contribution must correct this and refund the undercharge so that services can be reinstated and bills paid.

The MUD Act seeks to address many problems with apportionments and going forward requires that the charges set down in leases always be equitably apportioned between unit owners.

It also requires that transparent information is provided to owners on what services are included in the service charge and how much each owner is paying towards each one. Owners may now more easily familiarise themselves with how their management arrangements work, their rights to services and, similarly, their basis of apportionment and their obligation to pay for them.

The board of directors of your OMC and your managing agent should have this information and if a dispute arises the MUD Act contains a new dispute resolution mechanism which is another option available to you.

Siobhan O'Dwyer is chairwoman of the Property & Facilities Management Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland

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This column is a readers' service. Advice given is general and individual advice should always be sought