Here is one of my pet peeves. Two gas fires and a back boiler that were supposed to have been serviced every year and a stack of ‘passed’ Gas Safety Checks undertaken on behalf of the landlord. The fire and back boiler pictured below had been serviced and had passed a Landlord Gas Safety (CP12) for many years previous to our company getting the contract. It’s another case of the previous gas engineer doing nothing but writing up certificates and getting paid. The tenants in this particular flat said they had never seen either of the fires removed and were surprised when they saw the state of these so called safe fires!

The fire in the front lounge and the back boiler in the rear lounge were as bad as each other. These appliances had clearly not been serviced in many years. The pictures below show that the closure plate tape had long since melted and the plate was actually stuck to the fire and not the wall. The fire was full of dust and debris and the flue spigot (the portion that allows the products of combustion (CO) to escape the room and go up the flue) was plugged with hair, dust, bits of building rubble and children’s toys! The front lounge with the fire in it was the room used as the children’s play room!

The back boiler was in similar shape. The fire was full of dirt, dust and debris and the back boiler flue connections were also in poor shape. Once cleaned up all flues passed a flue flow test and the appliances all passed spillage tests. The landlord of this property was shocked with the pictures as he thought he had been getting proper work done.

The lesson here is simple. If the work doesn’t get done and someone gets hurt or worse you can’t just point the finger and watch the gas engineer swing for it. As the property owner you are responsible for making sure this mandatory work gets completed correctly. It is ultimately your problem and landlords around the country are finally being prosecuted for thier lack of caring. Imagine the gas fire in this property spilling out Carbon Monoxide through the unsealed closure plate while the children play around it! Not to mention the fact that the children shouldn’t have been playing around it. The fire should have been fit with a cage to keep the children from hurting themselves or sticking things into the flames to see what happens. Kids will be kids.

Have an appliance serviced incorrectly and you take a chance at harming your tenants. Get someone qualified, get someone safe or risk a life.

Those who think Landlord Certificates are just easy money? Read this blog.

Related Posts

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Fitters
2. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Kitchen Fitters
3. Danger of the Week Award – Dangerous Flue Installation
4. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Builder
5. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Boiler Repair