This is why we will not endorse DIY gas work!

[Dotty]

Read the article especially HSE Inspectors view

A Lincolnshire plumber has been prosecuted for carrying out illegal gas work after a couple suffered severe burns in a major explosion at their home.

Daniel George Hickling, trading as DGH Plumbing and Heating, was hired by the couple to reduce the height of two redundant LPG gas pipes in an old kitchen, which was being converted into a living room at their Nettleton home.

After he left the property on 21 July 2011 the couple realised the gas supply hadn’t been switched back on so the householder went to the LPG tank in the garden and reset the valve to restore the supply. A short while later the couple smelled gas and went to investigate. When the householder was trying to find the source of the leak it ignited.

Lincolnshire Crown Court heard on 24 May that the explosion was so severe it blew out nearly all the ground floor windows and two walls of the property had to be supported to prevent them from collapsing.

The male occupant suffered severe burns to his hands, forearm and scalp and had to have a skin graft on his hands from which he is still recovering. His wife suffered serious burns to her lower legs and feet.
The couple had to live in a caravan for a year while the house was repaired.

A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the incident found Hickling had never been registered with Gas Safe and was not qualified or competent to carry out the work. It is believed he damaged one of the pipes while excavating part of the floor around the pipe, puncturing a hole in it.

Hickling, 39, of Main Street, Howsham, admitted breaching Regulations 3(1), 3(3) and 5(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was given an 11-month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £2,000.

HSE inspector David Butter said: "Anybody who carries out work on gas pipes or appliances without being on the Gas Safe Register is breaking the law. Daniel Hickling endangered the lives of this couple as soon as he began work. They are extremely lucky to have survived.”

 

[Kyle87]

I doubt if the elderly couple have the money to pursue him through the courts but, hopefully, they are well insured and their insurers will pursue him. However as he is probably a "man of straw", i.e no assets, even the insurers may give up.

Do you think he is even insured?

Even if he is insured he won't be covered as he is doing illegal work

 

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

The £2,000 was contribution towards costs.
The "punishment" was the suspended prison sentence and hours of community service.

This is fairly typical for illegal gas work with an event like this.

I don't feel qualified to judge whether this is fair or too light a sentence.
BUT I do think is there is not enough of a deterrent to put illegal workers off doing gas work.

In the majority of cases - where there is no serious incident - there will be a period where illegals are just told to stop.
If they carry on there may be an enforcement notice.
If they still carry on they may be prosecuted with fines and costs often being less than £5k - often a lot less.

They could be doing tonnes of illegal work for years before they get to the stage of prosecution.

 

[oz-plumber]

The sad fact is that unless he has some personal assets, no one will get any money out of him. The insurance company and the property owners will be hung out to dry if this is the case. If he was working for a company then there might be some chance of suing the company. The only way to punish his idiot is to have a gaol sentence. If the couple had been killed there might be a chance of locking him up. Besides all that, it is the poor people who suffered and will continue to suffer - probably for the rest of their lives - due to employing someone, they thought competent, to do a gas alteration. Seriously all that had to be done after the alterations is test the gas line. 10 - 15 minutes extra on the job and the whole situation would have been avoided.