Ideal boiler data plate: where the serial and GC number are
By Jordan Valentine-Dunn, Gas Safe registered engineer · 9 September 2026
Ideal puts the identification data in two places. The data plate carrying the model and serial number sits on the bottom of the boiler casing, and there is a barcoded serial sticker on top of the boiler. The GC number is the same seven digit reference Ideal prints as the Benchmark number.
Where is the data plate on an Ideal boiler?
On the underside of the casing. Ideal's Logic Max Combi installation and servicing guide states that the boiler model and serial number can be located on the bottom of the boiler casing, and marks the plate on the water and gas connection diagram, sitting in the same strip as the heating flow, hot water outlet, condensate drain and gas inlet. So on a wall-hung Ideal you are looking up at it from below rather than opening a flap. The current combi ranges follow that layout, but check the manual for the exact model in front of you before you assume it on an older appliance. Ideal's own paperwork calls the same label a data badge in places, which is worth knowing when you are reading the manual rather than the boiler.
Where is the serial number on an Ideal boiler?
On a barcoded sticker at the top of the boiler, as well as on the underside plate. Ideal's own support pages tell homeowners the serial number is displayed on a barcoded sticker located at the top of the boiler, and that it should also appear on the Benchmark certificate filled in by the installer at commissioning. That gives you three chances at it on a normal visit: the top sticker, the underside plate, and the logbook. On a boiler boxed into a tight cupboard the top sticker is often the only one you can photograph without dropping the case, so start there.
What is the GC number on an Ideal boiler?
It is the Gas Council number, and on Ideal appliances it doubles as the Benchmark number. The Benchmark pages of Ideal's installation guides list each boiler size against a heading that reads G.C. Appliance No. followed by Benchmark No. in brackets, so the two references are one and the same on this make. It runs to seven digits written as 00-000-00. A Logic Max Combi 24 carries 47-349-56 and the Combi 30 carries 47-349-57, while the Vogue Max Combi 26 IE, 32 IE and 40 IE carry 47-349-84, 47-349-85 and 47-349-86. Numbers differ by variant and by production run, so read the one on the appliance rather than trusting a list.
Why record the GC number rather than the model name?
Because the badge on the front does not identify the appliance precisely enough. Ideal sells Logic, Logic Max and Vogue Max in combi, system and heat-only formats across several outputs, and a customer who tells you they have an Ideal Logic has narrowed it down to a few dozen possibilities. The GC number picks out one variant, which is what a parts distributor will ask for and what makes a safety record unambiguous years later when someone else picks up the property.
How to get both numbers without a wasted trip
Look on top first
The barcoded serial sticker sits on the top face of the boiler and is usually readable with a torch and a phone held above the case.
Then read the underside plate
The data plate on the bottom of the casing carries the model and serial number, and sits among the water and gas connections.
Photograph both square on
Take the pictures before you start any work, so you are not going back to the boiler to check a digit you could not read later.
Cross-check the Benchmark book
The installer should have written the serial number and the GC number into the logbook at commissioning. Note any mismatch as found rather than correcting it.
Ring Ideal if the labels are gone
Ideal's customer services line is 01482 498660 and can help identify an appliance when both labels have been painted over or lost.
What belongs on the record
- Make and model exactly as printed on the data plate, not as the customer describes it.
- GC number in full including the dashes, which is also the Benchmark number on this make.
- Serial number from the top sticker or the underside plate, whichever is legible.
- Configuration, whether combi, system or heat-only, since Ideal ranges span all three.
- Anything that disagrees with the Benchmark book or the previous record, written up as found.
Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can service, size, install or certify a boiler. This is general guidance on where the identification data sits. Always work to the manufacturer's current instructions for the specific model in front of you, and read the appliance data plate rather than relying on any published list.
Two labels in two awkward places, then the same digits typed twice, once on the pad and again back at the office. That is where GC numbers pick up a wrong digit. Manifold's PlateScan reads the make, model and GC number straight off the data plate photo, drops them into the CP12 or service record, and keeps the appliance history against the property so the next visit opens with the numbers already there.
See how Manifold helps