Scottish lives at risk from illegal gas fitters

23rd March 2010

Local family put in danger and left counting the cost of dodgy gas work.

A new investigation into illegal gas fitters working in Scotland reveals that three out of four gas jobs carried out by them are unsafe, putting Scottish homes and families at risk from gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning, warns safety body Gas Safe Register.

The investigation across Scotland follows a national study* carried out for Gas Safe Register. It uncovered that illegal gas fitters in Great Britain are doing a QUARTER OF A MILLION gas jobs each year without the skills or the qualifications to work on gas. All gas engineers have to be Gas Safe registered by law. In the hands of an illegal gas fitter, gas can kill.

Mr and Mrs Sood from Glasgow learnt the hard way how easy it is for anyone to fall victim to a cowboy. The parents-of-three employed a local gas fitter to fit a new boiler before the winter. The fitter said he was registered and had even been recommended to the family by a friend. But, he wasn't on the Gas Safe Register - the official list of registered gas engineers. The fitter was working illegally and an investigation by Gas Safe Register, revealed that the Sood's boiler was at risk. It had to be turned off immediately.

Mrs Sood says: "We know how important it is to be gas safe and have always had our boiler serviced every year. Last year we decided to get a new, more energy efficient boiler. We asked if the gas fitter was registered and when he said he was we thought that was enough. If only I had known to check for his Gas Safe Register ID card. I'm now left with an unusable boiler and we've had to go through one of the coldest winters in 30 years with no heating or hot water. It's been dreadful. We're also £2,000 out of pocket and it will cost us an extra £3,000 to have it fixed which we just can't afford to pay."

Keith McKinlay, Gas Safe Register's Regional Investigation Officer for Scotland said:

"In the wrong hands gas can kill - so always check the Gas Safe Register ID card. Three in four of the illegal gas installations we investigated in Scotland in the last ten months have been Immediately Dangerous and we have had to disconnect the appliances straight away to make sure no one gets seriously injured or killed. With our research showing that illegal gas fitters do 250,000 jobs in British homes each year, it's worrying to think how many more homes in Scotland might have been left in a dangerous state like the Sood's."

Gas Safe Register has developed an accurate profile of those most likely to be involved in illegal gas work. More than half are sole traders. As well as carrying out gas work, many also do plumbing jobs (90%), bathroom fitting (81%), kitchen fitting (67%), general building (43%) and electrical work (43%).

They further estimate that there are at least 7,500 hard core illegal gas fitters working in Great Britain. They are potentially the most dangerous type of illegal gas workers in the country; and are a prime target of Gas Safe Register's National Investigations Team. The team also investigates registered engineers that carry out gas work they are not qualified to do, as Keith explains:

"Not everyone realises that different types of gas work require different qualifications. Just because someone is qualified and registered to work on one gas appliance, for example gas boilers, does not mean that they are automatically qualified to put in a gas fire. If they do this, the work is illegal and potentially life threatening. The work that your gas engineer can do safely is listed on the back of their Gas Safe Register ID card. It's really important to check the list on the back of their cards every time you have gas work done."

Source - Gas Safe Register

Posted Date: 23rd Mar 2010