Habitation Check

Nick-Mandy

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Simple question - Apart from keeping the warranty active. Do you have a habitation check done by an approved source each year? If you don't, is there a reason why you don't. Is it law to have these checks. Is your insurance invalid without one?
 
We do it, mainly to keep ourselves safe. It's a bit like the MOT. Partly for the piece of paper, but mainly to reassure yourself that your vehicle doesn't have a little fault that might kill you unexpectedly.
 
Never had a hab check. If it’s a condition of your warranty then may be worth getting done. Certainly isn’t law or insurance related, to my mind is just another money maker. Nothing done in a hab check you can’t check yourself.
 
Not need for any reason, but buy a damp meter and check every 6 months around windows a floor and inside cupboard walls to roof,and around roof vents.
 
The local Caravan Repair Centre in Dunfermline Dometic Main Agents + N number of other Manufacturers] was swamped last year, and Brunhilde was almost 7 years old. The Centre booked us in for a 'Biscuit Tin' donation check and clean of the fridge flue 15 minutes job, and left us to do the examination of the rest. Sterilised the Freshwater Tank, decalcified the Water Heater, and checked for damp. David of Wildebus fame had fitted an inverter and other small electrical jobs in late September, so we knew that the electrics were all working as they should, and the LPG system had been installed in July 2021, and Autogas at Thirsk said no system check needed unless we felt there was a problem or could smell gas. I did check door and window seals and apply vaseline to the rubbers

And, to show the limited value of the Hab Check, our 2016 Reg Burstner [so probably 2015 build] suffered the known floor delamination in late May/early June this year, whereas there had been no indication of any problems when the Hab Checks were made between late September and early November 2022 ...

Steve
 
marchie said:
The local Caravan Repair Centre in Dunfermline Dometic Main Agents + N number of other Manufacturers] was swamped last year, and Brunhilde was almost 7 years old. The Centre booked us in for a 'Biscuit Tin' donation check and clean of the fridge flue 15 minutes job, and left us to do the examination of the rest. Sterilised the Freshwater Tank, decalcified the Water Heater, and checked for damp. David of Wildebus fame had fitted an inverter and other small electrical jobs in late September, so we knew that the electrics were all working as they should, and the LPG system had been installed in July 2021, and Autogas at Thirsk said no system check needed unless we felt there was a problem or could smell gas. I did check door and window seals and apply vaseline to the rubbers

And, to show the limited value of the Hab Check, our 2016 Reg Burstner [so probably 2015 build] suffered the known floor delamination in late May/early June this year, whereas there had been no indication of any problems when the Hab Checks were made between late September and early November 2022 ...

Steve
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Problem with hab checks in my opinion Steve is they are only checks, they don’t actually fix anything. Plus I suspect in most cases the person doing the check probably knows less than a lot of us. What you got was a bit of service work, if a hab check was check, clean, service and offer some come back then it could be useful for new/less experienced owners. Glad to hear you don’t have them done lol
 
nabsim said:
Problem with hab checks in my opinion Steve is they are only checks, they don’t actually fix anything. Plus I suspect in most cases the person doing the check probably knows less than a lot of us. What you got was a bit of service work, if a hab check was check, clean, service and offer some come back then it could be useful for new/less experienced owners. Glad to hear you don’t have them done lol
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Thanks, Neil. I meant to highlight the fact that the floor delamination occurred mid-term, as it were, and that no Hab Check would have picked up this well-publicised fault, unless the Technician had felt the floor bounce during the Inspection. Another 'feature' of the Hab Check £ printing for Dealers goes back to the flooding of our flat in December 2022. The Painter & Decorators employed [grandfather & grandson!], admired Brunhilde and announced that they used to work for a local Dealer doing Hab Checks. 'It was great, we used to get the work done inside an hour and then have a sleep in the Customer's Motorhome' ...(n)

Steve
 
Thanks everyone for you comments/advice, all duly noted.

I wasn't intending to have a habitation check done, but because I slipped some last minute warranty work into Brownhills, just before the 3 year warranty expired, I encounted an out of date habitation certificate issue.

If you buy your motorhome new, you'd expect the company to drum up further business by informing you that your habitation check needs to be booked. Even once they've been cleared by Elddis to do the warranty work, you'd think they would say "hey, by the way you need an up to date habitation check done, and we can do this for £xxx whilst we have your vehicle". Oh no, they released my vehicle with no charge and then email the next morning.

So I'm rushing around to get one done ASAP or face a much larger bill for the repair under warranty.

The fact is, like an MOT, you need to book this in each year before the expiry date of the previous one, and don't expect anyone to remind you !

I wasn't going to bother with one for next year, until it was pointed out to me, that my vehicle has another 7 years of warranty for water penatration, and was advised to have a damp test done each year, just for the warranty.
 
nabsim said:
Problem with hab checks in my opinion Steve is they are only checks, they don’t actually fix anything. Plus I suspect in most cases the person doing the check probably knows less than a lot of us. What you got was a bit of service work, if a hab check was check, clean, service and offer some come back then it could be useful for new/less experienced owners. Glad to hear you don’t have them done lol
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I think you hit that nail squarely on the head.
 
have ours done every year. i can check water damp and electrics (sort of) but gas very dangerous leave it to the experts. gives peace of mind.
 
Torchy said:
Simple question - Apart from keeping the warranty active. Do you have a habitation check done by an approved source each year? If you don't, is there a reason why you don't. Is it law to have these checks. Is your insurance invalid without one?
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A habitation check is not defined in the way that an MOT test is. What is checked is decided by the checker. So one check is not the same as another.

Generally they check that everything works (pointless: you'd notice anyway).

They usually check moisture levels (you can buy the meter for a tenner, but you do have to know where to look for damp). A damp check at least once a year is a really good idea.

They usually check the gas system for leaks.

There is no legal need for a habitation check. It's very unlikely your insurer will want one (the only way to know is to read your policy.

And no, in over 40 years of motorhoming, I have never paid for a habitation check.
 
Ok you knowledgeable people what if like me you are a complete numty technically? Obviously I would notice the smell of gas if it was high or if damp was above 15 because even I can use a damp meter but would I notice general deteriation that if nit fixed then becomes expensive to fix or even dangerous. It was only the extreme of a black sooty vent that showed me a serious problem with my fridge.
Electrics and gas I will not mess with and I've heard of enough accidents waiting to happen on vans where a little (and I mean a little) knowledge has meant people think they know what they are doing. You tube is not the way forward for everyones expertise!
I've been very lucky on this forum to meet some really great knowledgeable people who do know what they are doing, (I don't), have the experience of years and have helped me out.
Also if you have mates rates or no rates from a friend what happens when it goes wrong? Are you going to get any redress or just lose a good mate?
 
You don’t need a hab check for that @andromeda besides they only check certain stuff not fix things. If you want gas stuff checking contact a Gas Safe person who has the certification for lpg appliances.
 
I know they don't fix things but neither does an MOT. They highlight what needs fixing before it gets so bad it's either expensive or not really viable
 
This might be of interest? James from AZ Experts is a down-to-earth RV tech and is often employed to check out RVs for dealers after they get them in or from buyers before a sale. Obviously some of the checks are not relevant (such as Slide Outs) but if you follow the checks he does where appropriate you can't go far wrong. (some checks covered are not DIY, but should be done if getting someone in to do the checks).
 
Torchy said:
Simple question - Apart from keeping the warranty active. Do you have a habitation check done by an approved source each year? If you don't, is there a reason why you don't. Is it law to have these checks. Is your insurance invalid without one?
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There are three good reasons to have an annual habitation check:

1. For a new vehicle, it may be a condition for retaining the warranty.

2. It provides a steady income stream to motorhome repairers. You want them to stay in business for when you need a repair, don't you?

3. You might find a fault that would have got worse if not fixed early. Mostly this applies to water ingress, but other faults can do that too.

As I said earlier, I've never paid for a habitation check, but there are those three reasons why you might.
 
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