Joiner prosecuted for working as unregistered gas engineer

Date:

26 November 2009

Release No:

HSE/E/39

A joiner who illegally worked with gas boilers when unregistered has been ordered to pay more than £1,000 compensation to a householder.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted former Bury St Edmunds resident Jim Price, now of Ravenscroft Road, Beckenham, Kent. He appeared in Bury St Edmunds court today (Thursday 26 November) after he pleaded guilty to working on a gas boiler while not registered.

Magistrates sitting in Bury St Edmunds heard how Mr Price was working in the town in October 2007, when he removed an old boiler from a house in Pinners Way and installed a new one in its place.

He was not registered to do so and the installation was carried out incorrectly. The homeowner had to pay for another engineer to rectify the faulty work Mr Price left behind.

Mr Price, who trades as Jim the Joiner, was fined £250 for breaching Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998. He was also ordered to pay £250 in costs and £1,150.74 in compensation to the affected householder.

HSE Inspector Andrew Saunders, who led the investigation into the case, said:

"It is illegal for an unregistered person to carry out work on a gas appliance. When unqualified workers try to bypass the law in this way they are not only putting themselves at risk of prosecution and a large fine, they are also putting their customers' lives at risk.

"Working with gas appliances is difficult, specialised and potentially dangerous. Only qualified and registered engineers should attempt it. Those employing someone to carry out work on a gas installation such as a boiler or fire should first make sure the person is fully registered with the Gas Safe Register.

"HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those who flout the law in this way."

Notes to editors

1. Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & 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."
2. Anyone carrying out work on gas installations and appliances must be on the Gas Safe Register. The Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas register on 1 April 2009.
3. Please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/index.htm for more information about gas safety specifically.
4. Please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/press.htm for all press releases from HSE.

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