Homes Under The Hammer and builder who installed his own boiler:
You might have seen the news that Gas Safe Register have said they will be investigating after a builder and homeowner featured on Homes Under The Hammer revealed on camera that he had installed his own boiler and got a plumber in to commission and issue a certificate for the installation.*According to Gas Safe Register: “It is not acceptable for someone who is NOT Gas Safe registered to fit a gas appliance or do other gas work and then have the work checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Both parties would be breaking the law.“
The details of this case will no doubt be investigated but outside of the world of television the question remains, was this an isolated incident? Well maybe.
In our experience, we have encountered situations where we suspected that a contractor completing a new build or major refurbishment has had gas work “signed off” by someone who may not have completed the actual installation work.
This is based upon the fact that certification included in O&M manuals was completed for multiple dwellings (far more than it’s possible to complete) in a single day and by a single engineer! Now, that’s not to say that the person actually completing the work was unregistered. They may have been but the point is, we don’t know…
If you’re responsible for gas safety in your organisation then you’ll need to make sure that your contractors are competent and that you’re employing a Gas Safe registered business with engineers competent to work on the appliances they are installing or maintaining.
If other parts of the organisation are completing gas works, project and contract managers should always check to ensure that their contractors are properly registered and employing competent engineers at all stages of the installation and refurbishment process.
*The programme was first shown in May 2016, repeated recently and an eagle eyed gas engineer spotted the issue and informed Gas Safe Register. The BBC have confirmed that the programme will not be repeated and will be working with Gas Safe Register to refresh the knowledge of staff working on the programme.
Photos for illustrative purposes only
© Manifest Associates Limited 2017