that's awful can you relocate it to another part of your roof? we've got an apartment and it's up on the roof somewhere..

The solar panel needs to face a certain way and the piping should be as short as possible to the maximum number of taps for efficiency, but if that location really is the best location for the tank someone should have said wait a minute, what about the window, this plan needs more tweaking.... it's why you pay for their expertise. Have you got a plan and/or some more photos so that we can understand the big picture?

from the plans the HWS is not obscuring the window ?

The plan originally had a HWS on the ground against a wall?

OK, so your plans are showing a standard hot water storage tank (probably electric) that is ground/floor mounted. At some point there has been a decision to mount a solar hot water system on the roof. The plans don't reflect the final result. If it is a relatively new build, someone has changed their mind between plan submission and actual construction. It could also be that there was a hot water storage tank as shown on the plans, but it was later replaced with a rooftop solar hot water system.

moving is always possible it's dependant on how much you want to spend...we moved a brand new hws about 2 metres at a cost of almost $2000 our plumber was shocked at our request but the improvement to the view is just as valuable as money spent elsewhere

firstbuild they always says that..as they don't want to redo stuff...mine pulled down my rangehood and popped it back again..he told me he couldn't do it as it's already in and it would take two men and a day to pull it back down

obscure the glass,coloured or frosted, a relatively cheap alternative

Your lucky that the builder doesn't charge extra - most people would enjoy a submarine view from their lounge...

Have it moved. Someone at fault here. Either installer, builder, draftsperson or owner for not picking this up earlier. It's your money Ralph. Get it moved, and hold back on last payment if not already made. I am signing a new build contract in next day or so, and hope I have not missed anything. I was told by my builder Hot Water service has to be a certain distance from windows, and mine is solar with gas assist. Maybe the tradie was on his mobile and not paying attention to location. This happens, so , stand on you digs, get it moved for no cost to you. It is definately in wrong location

If that's the view from your living room, I agree it's definitely an eyesore and has to move. However if it's in that position on the plans you submitted to the builder as part of the building contract then it would be your cost to move it. If however it is not shown in that position on the plans then it is not unreasonable for the builder and or installer to move it at their cost. Good luck!

Looking at your plan HWS is not in front of window. Is that a fence or adjoining building along side of Bedroom wall? Also, if that is what I call a highlight window and can open out, not fixed window, the HWS should not under any circumstances be installed in that location. Against building regulations. Builders and building supervisors have a book of excuses to cover everything. Not one section on sorry, will fix the problem.

OK it's ugly, but think it through. It looks like you've had to get down quite low to take the photo - when you stand up is it better, or worse? Could a blind or curtain take it out of your view without costing a fortune and if you're really unhappy, move it when you have the cash. Of course, if you have that now, I would get it done straight away so it doesn't become an ongoing issue for you. If you move it now you'll probably never think of it again. If you can't afford to do that, look at the other couple of options I mentioned. A blind that moves off to the side, rather than up and down, could be the go for that. Then I'd be sending the photo you have here to several plumbers and find out who could move it for you and at what price. Obviously they'll have to come an quote properly but if you have someone saying it can't be done and someone saying it can, you need to sort that out first because it may not be an issue at all.

Put up a sheer curtain.