Unregistered gas fitter fined for dangerous defects

Date:

14 January 2013

Release No:

LSE/009/13

An unregistered gas fitter from Morden has been fined for endangering a Tooting family after he illegally and unsafely fitted a new boiler at their home.

Mr Mussrat Ahamed was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as a result of installing unsafe gas fittings in a family's rented property on Graveney Road, Tooting, in December 2011.

Westminster Magistrates' Court was told on Friday (11 January) that Mr Ahamed removed the family's boiler and installed a new one, leaving 13 defects, including one identified as an 'immediate danger' to life or property if an appliance had been left connected or operated.

The court heard that HSE was made aware that Mr Ahamed was operating without being 'Gas Safe' registered and did not have the expertise to carry out gas work.

Inspectors served a Prohibition Notice on Mr Ahmed preventing him from carrying out further work until he was recognised as competent and registered with the Gas Safe Register.

Mr Ahamed, of St Helier Avenue, Morden, was fined a total of £2,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Saif Deen said:

"Unregistered installers who carry out gas work expose people to unacceptable risks that can prove fatal.

"This family's boiler had serious defects because Mr Ahamed lacked the appropriate skills to perform this work safely. He knew he wasn't Gas Safe registered, and although he understood the legal requirement to be registered he was under the impression that the work he undertook didn't constitute gas work because he didn't tamper with the supply.

"This is a worrying misconception amongst some plumbers and trades people - although the Gas Safety Regulations make it clear that only authorised engineers should carry out any work involving gas fittings or servicing.

"Gas Safe Registration is in place to ensure that only those who achieve and can demonstrate competence are allowed to work on gas systems."

For information on safe gas fitting visit www.hse.gov.uk/gas

Notes to editors

1. 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
2. Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, states that "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 26(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states: 'No person shall install a gas appliance unless it can be used without constituting a danger to any person.'

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