Illegal gas fitter fined £8,000

Date:

26 August 2010

Release No:

COI/LDN/26-08

A workman who falsely claimed to be a registered gas engineer has been fined £8,000 after installing gas appliances at an address in Hackney.

The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Robert Fordham of Tring Road, Long Marston in Tring for carrying out gas work while not being registered, and for pretending to be registered when he was not.

Mr Fordham pleaded guilty to breaching two counts of Regulation 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 and to one count of Regulation 3(3) of the same act. He was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,097.50 at the City of London Magistrates' Court.

The court heard that in January 2006, Mr Fordham and a colleague replaced a gas boiler at the Castle Climbing Centre in Hackney. He sent an invoice to the climbing centre stating that he was registered with CORGI - the official gas registration body at the time.

When he did not arrive to carry out further work as planned, the centre contacted the register, who confirmed that he was not a qualified and registered gas engineer.

In September 2006, Mr Fordham was also responsible for installing a new boiler at a house in Dorset Road, Mottingham. Again, he gave the owner an invoice stating that he was a registered gas fitter and even left a registration card with a CORGI number on it. However when the homeowner contacted CORGI, they confirmed that Mr Fordham was not registered.

Mr Fordham knew he was operating illegally in carrying out this type of work as he'd been previously tried to become registered and been refused.

HSE Inspector, Darren Aldis, said:

"Robert Fordham deliberately misled people about his qualifications and registration to sell his services and make money.

"There is a very good reason for the registration scheme - to give customers the confidence that their engineer is competent.

"People carrying out work without being registered may be putting lives at risk, and HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those like Mr Fordham who break the law.

"I urge anyone having gas work done to always check that the fitter is registered. And don't just take their word for it. Ask for their number, and check online or by phone and make sure."

Gas engineers undertaking gas work must be a member of an organisation approved by HSE. The only body currently approved by HSE is Gas Safe Register. For more information or to check registered gas engineers in your area go to www.gassaferegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.

Notes to editors

1. Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas registration scheme in Great Britain and Isle of Man on 1 April 2009 and in Northern Ireland and Guernsey on 1 April 2010.
2. 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".
3. Regulation 3 (7) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) regulations 1998 states: "no person shall falsely pretend to be a member of a class of persons required to be approved under the Health and Safety Executive."
4. Gas Safe Register is the government approved registration scheme for gas engineers in the UK, Isle of Man and Guernsey. The register of 126,000 gas engineers, aims to protect 21 million gas consumers from dangerous gas work. It is a legal requirement for any gas engineering business or self employed gas engineer carrying out domestic or commercial gas work to be registered under the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998.
5. Gas Safe Register assesses the competence of engineers on the register by inspecting a sample of the gas work they carry out to make sure they are safe to work on gas. Gas Safe Register is focused on gas safety and campaigns to raise awareness of gas safety risks, including those associated with using illegal gas workers.
6. Gas Safe Register deals with all aspects of the downstream gas industry covered by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. It covers both piped natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
7. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk

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