WATER HEATING SYSTEM DAMAGES CLAIM

ASSESSMENT

Black Bird Construction was contacted by the client’s insurance company to assess and conduct repair work. An assessment took place at the client’s property in Kenilworth, where various items were inspected and a quotation was then generated and accepted by the insurer and client. Below is a breakdown of what transpired during the claim and excerpts of the assessor’s findings have been included as a means to explain the various building work required to repair the damages. The scope of work has also been included along with photos of the damages before and after the repairs were completed. We hope you enjoy the post and if you would like to learn more about Black Bird Construction please feel free to contact us.

REPORT

After receiving the claim, it was more than apparent that there was a major issue with the water heating system and the work conducted on the system in the past was not clear and easily obtainable. I have provided a breakdown of the events leading to the assessment of the water heating system by our solar specialist ****. **** Plumbing:

**** from **** provided me with information regarding the work his team conducted at the home. As per the below report he simply replaced the thermostat and the element.

“**** Plumbing was called out to investigate burst /faulty geyser. After investigation it was found to be a faulty thermostat and element. Recommend: Replace faulty thermostat, element and gasket. Please note: The owner queried why the solar was not heating up the geyser – further investigation found that the solar pump was not connected to the power to function – hence it is not heating the water. (Geyser heating up by element and thermostat currently). The electrical would have to be tended to first in order further test the solar pump.” **** Plumbing Report:

We were called out to assess a Pumped solar geyser system and whether it was working or not. We picked up that a pump has been installed but has no management system to control when the pump switches on and off. The basic way a solar geyser pumped system works is by adding a management system that works as follows. A digital thermostat gets fitted to the geyser in the usual thermostat location, a secondary sensor gets fitted to the panel on the roof, The water inside the panel is generally set at a 7 degree differential, Meaning when the sun has heated the solar panel water to 7 degrees higher than the water in the geyser, The management system then closes the relay circuit and the pump switches on circulating the water and transferring the heat from the panel to the circulated water and in turn heats it up 7 degrees higher than what it was. Once the water in the panel & geyser have equalized the pump shuts off by means of the relay opening again and breaking the circuit. In Mr. Simons current setup the management with all sensors (Vital components) Is not installed. Therefore, the system is not heating efficiently and cooling down due to the pump continuously running. This is not good for the efficiency of the heating cycles nor for the pump itself. Secondly, there is a blown steam relief valve on the solar collector panel this is a safety valve for when a pump fails the water does not boil inside the panel instead it will vent the steam to the atmosphere safely. This valve is broken, it was a clear indication that the pump or sensors have failed or is not installed correctly. I Have added a quotation to properly fix the system and rectify the management system and to let the system work efficiently as it was designed to.”

Conclusion:

Once it was determined what the cause of the fault was, it was simple to conduct the repairs and to re-establish the water heating system at the client’s property. The above-suggested repairs were conducted and the client’s water heating system was back up and running as it should be. It is difficult to explain why the system was left the way it was, based on what I can tell the plumbing team that was called in were not familiar with solar heating systems and left the solar components disconnected. According to the client, the plumbing team that replaced the geyser (before **** arrived on site) was sent in by his insurer. Although the job was conducted correctly the solar components making up the water heating system were left disconnected and subsequently redundant. I did read through the comments left by **** but I feel that the system should not have been left the way it was. A client would not invest in a solar system and then allow it to not function correctly after having the cylinder replaced. There was a fair amount of work needed to the system to have it re-instated, but thankfully it is now up and running as it should be. Whoever the plumbing team is that replaced the geyser, these issues fall on them as they are ultimately responsible for leaving the client in a worse situation than he was in, to begin with. The client did not understand what the issues were and that is why he was confused regarding the situation. If the team that replaced the cylinder explained what the issue was, I am certain the client would have taken action.

SCOPE OF WORKS

BELOW IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE REPAIR WORK CONDUCTED TO THE RESULTANT DAMAGES AT THE AFFECTED PROPERTY:

Call out and assessment to client.

Assess affected solar system at the following property.
Submit damage report.

Solar system repairs:

Supply & fitment of a new Geyserwise Controller with new digital thermostat & roof sensor
Moved 220V Pump to correct position and wired pump up to controller.
New steam relief valve installed on roof / Panel.

NOTE: Guarantees