DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad Relatives Who Think They’re Gas Fitters
Regulations broken: The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 : PART B Gas Fittings – General Provisions(Qualification and supervision, Materials and workmanship, General safety precautions, Protection against damage, Existing gas fittings)/PART D Installation Pipework (Safe use of pipes, Enclosed pipes, Testing and purging of pipes)/PART E Gas Appliances (Gas appliances – safety precautions, Testing of appliances)

We received a call this week and asked for a price to replace a gas fire with a ‘like-for-like’ unit. Our response is always the same. We must always view the existing current gas fire and the unit intended to take it’s place before making further comment. When we viewed the existing fire the next day our immediate response was to disconnect it due to safety issues. The gas fire was spilling. In lay terms that means that the products of combustion are ‘spilling’ into the room. To further aggravate the issue the fire surround was covered with some sort of stick on vinyl product which had over the years also melted! continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Central Heating (Swines) ‘Engineers’

I spotted these flues next door to a property we were visiting to finalise a full kitchen refurbishment for early in the New Year. As I walked by several neighbouring properties I noticed that most of the boilers had been upgraded from older floor mounted balanced flue boilers to condensing room sealed boilers. Interestingly the flues all appeared to be poking out above, beside or below openings (windows, doors, air bricks) in the fabric of the building. In English that means that the products of combustion (which includes carbon monoxide and other nasty toxic chemicals)  can re-enter the living space where humans (who require oxygen) can breath them in. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Central Heating Engineers

This story started when I was called to look at a job which required replacing an electric double oven with a gas double oven. The home owner wanted a price to complete the job and I couldn’t give them a quote over the phone so I said I’d pop over. The idea was to take a quick look, give them an estimate and then  book a time to do the work if they wanted to go ahead. Fate was however about to make us all more miserable than a rainy day in Oldham. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Gas Fitters

While removing a boiler which was past its prime earlier this week we found the flue pictured in the photos below. The pitted and split aluminium tube on display is the inner tube which carries products of combustion (carbon monoxide and other nasties) out of the boiler and out of the house too. This flue however was not properly fastened to the top of the boiler so required NO effort to remove from the boiler or from the wall where it had the appearance of being firmly bedded in to the mortar.

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DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad – Boiler Installers

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While picking up some electrical bits the other day my supplier, who is also a client of ours, asked me about his high energy bills. Specifically his gas bill seemed higher than usual. I suggested a Gas Safety Check also known as a CP12 to determine whether or not there was a leak in some pipe work or perhaps a badly burning boiler, fire or cooker.

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DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad – Kitchen Fitters

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A retailer I deal with passed on the name of one of their clients who wanted to have a boiler installed. I called up and was asked to come and look at the current boiler and was told that it was built into a chimney breast in the kitchen.  The homeowner couldn’t make the appointment so his daughter showed me through to the kitchen. I didn’t see any signs of a boiler and after opening a few cupboards asked the young lady if she knew where the boiler was. She had no idea. So I changed my strategy. Find the flue and I’ll find the boiler. Well, I found the flue but the boiler still couldn’t be located.

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DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad DIY Gas Fitter…

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When called to a home last week we viewed a fire which was to be swapped with a new unit of the same type. Everything looked alright on first glance. The gas fire was old and the surround was worn. The flue terminal and chimney brickwork looked good too. So we showed up yesterday to remove the old fire and re-fit the new one but had to stop when we realised that we couldn’t gain access to the catchment space behind the fire.

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