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HSE WM/128/08 15 May 2008

HSE warns safety comes first when working with gas fittings after Stratford landlord is fined

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is advising tenants and home-owners to have any gas-fired appliance carefully checked and serviced by qualified and competent person if they have doubts about its operational safety. Currently, only CORGI is approved by HSE to register competent gas installers.

In 2005/6 16 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by appliances and flues that have not been properly installed or maintained. Tenants should also ensure that they are provided with current gas safety certificates.

The warning comes after landlord Peter Neil Ingram from Lowsonford was today fined a total of £2,000 with £1,777 costs by Stratford-upon-Avon Magistrates Court. Prosecution follows an HSE investigation into the removal of part of a flue on a rented house in Wetherby Way, Stratford-upon-Avon. Mr Ingram pleaded guilty to breaching the Gas Safety (Installations and Use) Regulations 1998 and was fined £1,000 for breaching each of Regulations 8(2) and 36 (2).

In July 2006 the tenant called out an engineer after a Carbon Monoxide detector had activated and the tenant’s 18-month-old son had displayed sickness symptoms. The engineer disconnected the gas supply and served a Warning Notice marked ‘immediately dangerous’. The engineer noted that the flue of the central heating boiler, on which Mr Peter Ingram, husband of the property owner, had been working, was incorrectly fitted and highly likely to cause the generation of toxic Carbon Monoxide gas within the property.

Mr Ingram knew that work on gas appliances was to be conducted only by suitably qualified Corgi-registered installers but even when challenged by a neighbour had continued to undertake the work. A flue terminal was absent, the height of the flue was insufficient over a conservatory roof and the installation was left with other potentially dangerous faults. Access to the flue terminal had been gained via a neighbouring property and the occupier of that property informed their neighbour that his landlord had altered the gas flue installation in a way that was obviously incorrect, even to a layman.

Speaking after the case, HSE prosecuting inspector Neil Craig said:

"The dangers of incorrectly fitted gas installations are well known. Such dangerous work, like that seen at the property in Stratford, puts lives at risk from both carbon monoxide poisoning and fires in the home.

"This case should serve as a reminder to home owners and tenants that any work undertaken on a gas-fired appliance should only be carried out by a suitable and qualified specialist in that field. This instance should also be a warning to landlords that they must provide tenants with a current Gas Safety Certificate and work should only be conducted by persons who are qualified, competent and Corgi-registered."

Notes to editors

  1. HSE has responsibility for regulating consumer gas safety in GB and does this largely through the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR). These regulations place responsibilities on a wide range of people, including those installing, servicing, maintaining or repairing gas appliances and other gas fittings; as well as suppliers and users of gas systems/appliances. Statutory obligations are placed on landlords to maintain gas appliances that they own.
  2. Regulation 8(2) states
    "No person shall do anything which would affect a gas fitting or any flue or means of ventilation used in connection with the fitting in such a manner that the subsequent use of the fitting might constitute a danger to any person, except that this paragraph does not apply to an alteration to premises."
  3. The law requires that anyone who works on gas appliances must be competent, and if they are doing the work as a business, i.e. employer or self-employed, they must be CORGI registered. An installer's CORGI ID card has details of the types of appliances that an installer is trained to work on.
  4. HSE is currently running a competition to appoint a provider to run new gas installer registration scheme from April 2009. Until then, CORGI is the only body approved to register competent gas installers.
  5. Audible CO detectors with a British or European approval mark, such as a kite mark, are strongly recommended, although not a substitute for regular checks and servicing by a CORGI-registered installer.
  6. Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states "No employer shall allow any of his employees to carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or service pipework and no self-employed person shall carry out any such work, unless the employer or self-employed person, as the case may be, is a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of this paragraph".
  7. The maximum penalty in the lower court for a single breach of a regulation of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 is £5,000.
  8. For further information on gas safety information contact:
    HSE Gas Safety Advice Line 0800 300 363 or visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic. Information on matters relating to CORGI can be obtained from CORGI (Council for Registered Gas Installer) 0870 401 2300 or visit:
    http://www.corgi-gas-safety.com
  9. HETAS  (Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme) is an independent body recognised by government to approve solid fuel domestic heating appliances, fuels and services. Although there is no legal requirement for fitters to be registered with this organisation, the HETAS Guide contains listings of Registered Installers, Chimney Sweeps and Maintenance businesses who’s operatives have been trained and assessed in safety and good practice. www.hetas.co.uk

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