Habitation checks - what's included?

[Mel B]

We had our annual habitation check carried out on Monday, nothing special about that, but today when I went up on the roof to do some checking of the seals round the roof vents before the bad weather gets here I found that the large strip of sealant - it runs across the width of the van and joins the front and rear roof mouldings - had 'crazed', okay the van is 3 and a half years old now so I'm not shocked by that, however, what did worry me was that there was a hole 10mm x 5mm in it! Now the hole wasn't new and so must've been there when the check was done on Monday. The question - should they have spotted it when doing the habitation check? If not, then what does the habitation check actually cover??? I would've thought that checking the sealant joints, especially the main one, would be high on the list of things to do. It makes me wonder what else wasn't checked! Comments please.

[michele]

MelB , Firstly your braver than I am, up on the roof. Secondly No one told us about all this habitation stuff when we bought our three van's . Thirdly I would of thought that it was all in a day's work & covered by the habitation warranty thing... Let's face it if the inside get's wet then it's not fit for habitation . I would of thought that would be mended as standard.

[howie]

I would imagine all damp checks are carried out from the inside with a meter Mel, and doubt very much they would look at the outside. Their latest test seems to have found no problems but obviously the roof needs attention. You can either carry out this yourself or if unsure ask them to do it for you. Howard.

[Basil]

Mel, If you go to www.ukmotorhomes.net and look down the page to the yellow information section on the right hand side there is a link that gives you the SMMT Habitation Checklist that is what all the members are supposed to follow. Section 5.3 may be relevent or not according to interperatation! Bas.

[JohnP]

I had my habitation check done two weeks ago (Newark) but don't know where you had your check done. On my annual check list/report roof vents and exterior seals are listed as an item. Regarding the damp check, "OK" is entered onto the drawings of the MH but no actual moisture % are written. When my previous van was checked at "John's Cross MH" the % readings were entered at numerous points on the drawings ie around windows, doors, wheel arches and other body apertures. This was much more informative and a better way of doing it.

[Lizzy]

I suppose we need to make a personal list to make sure our needs are covered as to what we expect from a habitation check? Including listening to the showers running to make sure the pipes aren't clanking; that the fixed bed hydraulics are OK; that the knobs on the cupboards are useable; that the out-side entry lockers actually lock [a friend has a new van and the cassette locker has already failed! ] ..... I've noticed several things when walking round and I haven't bought yet! In fact at times I wonder if all the hassle of getting odds and sods fixed is really worth the effort :-S

[MOTORHOMER]

Hi After the habitation check a check for you to to. Check that all the roof vents that may have been opened have been closed properly. A certain service centre did not shut one of ours properly on one of our Mhomes with disastrous results. Motorhomer

[michele]

Motorhomer, Pray tell more .......................? What happened to your van :-(

[Mel B]

The service was carried out by a certain large dealership in Lincolnshire. I shall be corresponding with them as to what they actually DID do on the habitation check as this fault should NOT have got through - they are supposed to check the sealing of vents, flues etc and body and if they had done this they would certainly have spotted the hole in the sealant. I have done a temporary repair myself to the hole and will get some more sealant hopefully from York at the weekend as I haven't got enough to do a full strip out and re-seal at present but at least it is now water tight again - I did take photos first though! This has basically just confirmed what I thought about these expensive checks, that you'd be better of doing a lot of it yourself and just getting the bits you can't do checked professionally. It would've been over £200 for the check if I'd had to pay it, fortunately it was free due to the fire we had last year as it was part of the arrangement we came to. The fact that we didn't have to pay doesn't come into it though, it should still have been done to the same standard. We had considered taking out an extended warranty for the 'van - 2 years from the dealership £450, 2 years from the company direct £325, this is for the SAME warranty! On top of this you have to have the habitation service done every year so when you start to add it all up it does get very pricey, in total it would be a minimum of: £325 + £400 (2 x yearly habitation check costs), that's over £700, and that's assuming that if something does go wrong it is definitely covered by the warranty - as the 'van gets older proving that something is a fault rather than wear and tear could be difficult. To me, it now just doesn't make sense to take out the warranty anymore ... hopefully that's not tempting fate!!! Thanks for everyone's help with this. Mel B

[MOTORHOMER]

As I said a certain large dealership/manufacturer serviced our vehicle. One of the items checked was the seal round the rear vent which also housed the 12 volt operated turbo fan which they also checked worked OK. All ticked OK. We had stayed on their drive the night before when it had been pouring down all night long. No problem. No leaks. Everything bone dry. All we did after the two services was drive home. The next time it rained we had a HUGE problem. Rain pouring in from said vent. Took it to Marquis to have a look at it & they said the vent had not been closed properly. Only folk to touch said vent since wet night on their drive was the person who did the habitation service. That said company DENIED ALL RESPONSIBILITY. We refused to pay to have the problem righted as we were not to blame. Marquis were brilliant. ITHO said company who did the service were to blame. They kept the van under cover for us while they tried on our behalf to sort out payment so the work could go ahead. To cut a long story short Marquis did the repair & charged us nothing. Dont think the culprit ever coughed up. Our van however was away from October to February. It was as good as new. Several months later we had another problem on the vehicle side. This also turned out have been caused by the same service centre although on the vehicle side. Not been anywhere near that service since. Motorhomer

[Ranger]

I guess it all depends on who does the checks, I have it done by a local firm called 'CARAFIT' at Crosshands, Llanelli, Carmathenshire. They report every little insignificant dent, perhaps to show that they have given every thing a check and have missed nothing, and ask before they repair anything above and beyond normal servicing work. The writen report as well as the work is always beyond reproach. No complaints at all. Perhaps I am just lucky.