illegal workers

[gaspastemania]

Does anybody think gassafe do enough to combat illegal gas workers?
Everytime i go up B&Q or wickes there seems to be someone buying a fire who is hell bent on fitting it themselves with the 'it cant be that hard to fit this' attitude.
Failing that there seems to be builder after builder doing illegal gas works , installing flues ,fires ,boilers etc.
This annoys me as i think we pay enough and go through enough hassle to be gas safe and yet every week i know or hear of someone doing illegal gas work!!
Why dont they do more spot checks on builders or enforce any appliances sold at diy stores can only be done be gas safe ops !

 

[kirkgas]

Does anybody think gassafe do enough to combat illegal gas workers?
Everytime i go up B&Q or wickes there seems to be someone buying a fire who is hell bent on fitting it themselves with the 'it cant be that hard to fit this' attitude.
Failing that there seems to be builder after builder doing illegal gas works , installing flues ,fires ,boilers etc.
This annoys me as i think we pay enough and go through enough hassle to be gas safe and yet every week i know or hear of someone doing illegal gas work!!
Why dont they do more spot checks on builders or enforce any appliances sold at diy stores can only be done be gas safe ops !

because it isnt illegal to buy gas appliances and it never will be as there are more voters than gas enginners and there arent that many people killed its as simple as that, no government has the b@lls to vote it in, same as you and i can buy brakes for our cares, free trade.
WE need to do all we can to stop illegal work although it will be a long hard slog, so how many people have you reported in say the last 3 months

 

[gaspastemania]

I dont believe much happens if you do report someone , remember seeing it on a rogue traders programme couple years ago and nothing much happened to an illegal worker .As for brakes other than an mot which you get pulled on if its not upto date other than that is there a law??

 

[SafeGasInstall]

because it isnt illegal to buy gas appliances and it never will be as there are more voters than gas enginners and there arent that many people killed its as simple as that, no government has the b@lls to vote it in, same as you and i can buy brakes for our cares, free trade.
WE need to do all we can to stop illegal work although it will be a long hard slog, so how many people have you reported in say the last 3 months

for the past two weeks i have made two RIDDOR reports ,and one report to gas bord !!!

 

[kirkgas]

for the past two weeks i have made two RIDDOR reports ,and one report to gas bord !!!

fair play, this is something we all need to do so lets start a campaign report EVERYONE and EVERYTHING we know to be wrong, yes it will be a long slog and not very fruitful but best we start now and try something

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Can we do our campaign as separate chart just for the gas safe only !!!!

 

[kirkgas]

Can we do our campaign as separate chart just for the gas safe only !!!!

do you mean keep a note of gas safe guys/gals we report? if so i agree, cause there are far too many registered peeps who are doing cr@p work as well as the unregistered guys

 

[Dannypipe]

Changed a boiler at an Indian restaurant before Christmas. Then I get a call from a relative of one of the cooks. He owns another restaurant the other side of town.

They had a new boiler but couldn't get it to work.

Turns out that they had bought two Biasi combi's from B&Q. Then fitted them their selves. Thought they'd save the money on flues by using the ones off the old boiler. They called me in luckily as they couldn't get it to fire.

The one in the living accommodation upstairs is chugging away, but they wouldn't let me up there after I capped the one in the restaurant .

I've now ordered the correct flue and I will make sure it's put right. No way I'll register it though. I will make it safe. Thing is they only speak broken English so it's hard to explain how dangerous the installation is.

At the other restaurant where I did the boiler change, before I started I did a tightness test and it dropped like a stone. They all knew it was coming from the popodom warmer, but was hoping I wouldn't notice. Crazy.

I'll post a pic of the electrics at restaurant 2.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

every time i do my renewals the assessors (that i have retrained with for 15 years)say the same thing,everything is reportable,riddor the lethal ones,because you dont know how many that individual has installed like that,cover your self,but get a dangerous installer brought to task

 

[REDSAW]

i think the best people to lobby is the home/buildings insurance people.

no signed gas safety certs covering new and old = no valid insurance.#

i am sure they will look at anything to make money, good news to us and peace of mind to custsrds for a few quid a year.imo

 

[Dannypipe]

Yeah but in the case of this place I'm talking about, you'd never get to the bottom of who fitted it. Best to make it safe and move on.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

.......no still RIDDOR it, takes 10 min on the phone

 

[Dannypipe]

We've had this chat on another thread. It would be a waste of everyones time. They'll not get anywhere with it. The owner is Indian, from what I have gathered by speaking with his English nephew as a translator, the owner and another relative fitted it.

I actually called Gas Safe tech and they just said cap, and label. I know what you're saying but I'm just going to make it safe, charge them for every penny, and move on.

I can't imagine the HSE launching a full investigation as some cheapskate resteraunt owner tried to save a buck and luckilly couldn't get it to fire.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

this is what I found yesterday. I was thought BG installed it 7 years back !

 

[SafeGasInstall]

that's right charge them all the pounds and pens for your time ! have you ever seen junction box in boiler ,customer try to convince me it was BG install ,and it was part of the boiler !!!

 

[Dannypipe]

LOL! Actually I have come across a junction box in a boiler.

I don't know how you feel, but I would rather not get involved at all and often wish I hadn't taken the job on. It's much nicer to go to a proper installation with a genuine fault than go to some piece of crap bodge and lay your hands on it. Then you take responsibilty of it. Which isn't really fair.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

I feel the same , we all want straight forward jobs but every now and again we end up in one of this occasions ! this photo is from glow worm which had sign of soot on the inner said of boiler case ,seal on burner case gone and there was a gas leak ....so i made safe and turned of appliance and issued a warning notice ! new boiler to fit tomorrow as customer does not want to repair the good Glow Worm !!!

 

[Dannypipe]

Every cloud has a silver lining mate!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

I wish, I could understand the meaning of it ?

sorry dany !

 

[Dannypipe]

Just means: everything thats crap also has a good side.

Old saying!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Just had a look on your web said !! Good work mate!

 

[Dannypipe]

Cheers mate. Can't take credit for all of it, I work with my family. Been swinging tools since I was a kid. My dad and brother are brilliant tradesmen and taught me a lot.

Don't think we ever stop learning in this business.

Right I better away to bed, got to be on the road at 6am. Ouch! Have a good one mate.