Where is the GC number and data plate on a Worcester Bosch boiler?

Where is the data plate on a Worcester Bosch boiler?

It moves between ranges, and Worcester states the position in each manual rather than leaving you to hunt. On the Greenstar 2000 and 4000 the data label is centrally on the bottom of the appliance, in line with the control panel. On the 8000 Life and 8000 Style it is on the frame of the front cover. On the CDi Classic, CDi Compact, Si Compact, i and Ri, Worcester calls it the appliance identification label and puts it on the fascia. Whichever range you are stood in front of, one badge carries the model, the serial and the GC number, so a single clear photo gives you everything the record needs.

Worcester's own safety line is worth repeating on site. Never take screws out to go looking for a serial number, and do not go hunting for a data label on a boiler installed with restricted access or one that needs steps or a ladder to reach.

What is a GC number?

A GC number is the Gas Council number, the seven-digit code printed in three groups that identifies one exact appliance model. Worcester prints it on the data badge next to the model name, and repeats it either on the front cover of the installation manual or in the product information table near the front. It describes the model rather than the individual boiler, so every 30kW Greenstar 4000 combi on natural gas shares one GC number while each has its own serial. It goes in the appliance details on a gas safety record, which is why it pays to read it off the badge instead of working backwards from the range name.

Worcester Bosch GC numbers by model

These are the natural gas numbers as printed in Worcester's installation manuals. The Greenstar 4000 30kW combi, the one most people are looking for, is 47-800-32. Check the appliance type code on the badge against the middle column before you write anything down, because output and fuel both change the number.

LPG versions carry their own number in the same table: a 30kW Greenstar 4000 combi on LPG is 47-800-33, not 47-800-32. The 8000 Style also comes in CB variants with a separate set of numbers. For anything not listed here, open Worcester's literature library, download the installation manual for that range, and read the appliance table in the product information section on the newer ranges, or the panel on the front cover on the CDi, Si, Ri and i. Worcester prints the appliance type, the part number and the Gas Council number side by side, so you can match the code on your badge exactly.

How old is my Worcester Bosch boiler?

Read the FD number out of the serial. Worcester codes the manufacture date into three digits it calls the FD number, and where those digits sit depends on when the badge was printed. Worcester publishes the rule rather than a year-by-year age chart, so the two tables below set that rule out digit by digit, using Worcester's own example serials.

One digit for the year means it repeats every ten years, so an FD starting 6 could be 2006 or 2016. Use the range to place the decade: Worcester's literature pages list the manufacture dates each version of a manual covers, and a Greenstar 4000 badge cannot be from 2006 because the range did not exist then. Worcester's published examples only cover months 1 to 9, and the page does not explain how October to December are written, so if the digit will not give you a sensible month, ring Worcester's technical line with the full serial rather than guessing.

How do I check a Worcester Bosch serial number?

Put the whole serial into Worcester's guarantee checker and it returns the guarantee expiry date. The page asks for the 23 digit serial number and nothing else: no install date, no postcode, no account. Worcester is clear that the date only holds if the boiler has been serviced every year since it was installed, so treat what comes back as the entitlement rather than a promise. A MyBosch account shows the same guarantee length alongside the certificate, the product name and the serial.

Worked example, using Worcester's own published serial. 5570 006 000334 7716130137 comes to 23 digits, which is the length the checker asks for. Its FD block is 006, so the year digit is 0 and the month digit is 6, giving June 2010. Feed the full string to the checker and you get the guarantee position on top of the age, which between them tell you whether a repair is chargeable before you quote for it.

Why the data plate matters on a CP12

Because the appliance details on a gas safety record should describe the unit on the wall, not a best guess at it. Make, model and GC number all come off the badge, and getting them right means the record still matches the appliance when a letting agent, an inspector or the next engineer checks it. It also keeps the history usable: the right model pulls the right manual and the right spares, and the serial pins down which boiler you actually worked on.

• Find the badge where Worcester puts it for that range, rather than searching the whole case.
• Read the GC number off the badge for the appliance details, and check it against the appliance type code.
• Read the serial for the true manufacture date, using the FD rule for the badge style in front of you.
• Photograph the whole badge, so the record can be checked against the appliance later.
• Pull the installation manual for that model if the badge is painted over, faded or unreadable.

Reading the badge is the fiddly bit of every CP12, and it is where a mistyped model or GC number slips in. Manifold's PlateScan reads the make, model and GC number straight off the data plate with your phone camera, drops them into the record, and keeps the appliance history for the property so the next visit starts from the right unit.