One of the few constants in your home over the years is your boiler, which, if well-maintained and regularly serviced, will provide many years, if not decades, of reliable, efficient heating.
Following a series of punishing heatwaves, your boiler is probably the last thought on your mind.
However, summer is also the perfect time to get your boiler checked, in case more substantial repairs need to be done before you need your boiler in winter.
Many, if not most, people get their boiler serviced in the spring or summer to avoid the rush, but why is it so important? Moreover, should annual boiler servicing become a legal requirement?
Are You Required To Get Your Boiler Serviced Every Year?
In theory, it depends, but in practice the answer is almost always yes.
For landlords, there is a legal requirement to ensure that a gas safety check is undertaken on every gas appliance, but most gas engineers will also do a service whilst they are there, as it makes very little sense to only do one and not the other.
For homeowners, the requirements are a little more confusing, but whilst it is not a strict legal requirement, it can often be necessary for a few reasons:
- Homeowners have a legal duty of care to occupants, and if a broken boiler harms someone, it could constitute legal negligence
- Many warranties have a condition or clause that requires annual servicing by a Gas Safe Engineer, and failing to do so means they may not pay out
Should Annual Boiler Servicing Be A Legal Requirement?
With this being the current and somewhat confusing state of play, trade bodies and industry leaders alike have argued that boiler services should be legally required every year.
The Energy and Utilities Alliance made this case in 2024, arguing that it would not only keep people safer but also allow homeowners to better plan for repairs and replacements rather than having a sudden and unexpected bill.
An annual service that is legally mandated can save money through fixing problems earlier, maintaining greater efficiency and providing advice on how to further cut bills.
More recently, the Director of External Affairs at the boiler manufacturing conglomerate Worcester Bosch asked the question of mandatory boiler servicing, and whether the UK should adopt a similar system to other European countries.
After all, every car on the road needs to have an MOT, but under the current legal guidelines, whether a boiler needs servicing depends as much on how the home is occupied rather than the actual building and appliances that have been used.
Why Should You Get Your Boiler Serviced Every Year?
Even if it is not a legal requirement or warranty condition for you, it is very important to get your boiler serviced regularly, as it can help to identify potential serious issues far sooner, save money on repair costs and improve the overall lifespan of the boiler.
The cause of many premature boiler replacements is the escalation of a small issue into one that causes so much damage that it is uneconomical to fix.
The best way to work around that is through check-ups to spot and fix problems before they have the chance to grow.
