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!

[Show as slideshow]

So as seen from the pictures above the black stains that are emanating from the top of this fire are sure signs of spillage. Further to that issue we were also informed that the fire had recently been serviced and the ‘man’ who serviced it told her she should only use the fire for short periods of time. WHAT!?!? As I asked more questions I was  informed that the fire had originally been installed by a relative who was not a gas fitter. I slid the fire forward to look into the catchment space behind the fire and found that it was full of soot and had not been cleaned out in a long while. Also, and only another gas fitter would probably notice this; there were no signs that a flue flow test had been carried out recently. In other words there is usually signs of spent smoke pellets or that the soot has been disturbed if someone had actually been servicing the fire properly.

So on to the gas pipe which rises out of the crazy paving style hearth. It is a chrome gas tube and in most instances would not be an issue. In this case however the question that begs to be asked is where is the other end of the tube hooked up? As you can’t solder chrome pipe the assumption being made right now is that it has been fed into an old gas restrictor which is dangling under the floorboards or that it has been compression fitted to the old gas pipe work. Either way it is likely wrong, unsafe making it prone to leakage. There is also no isolation valve or any other way to turn this fire off in case of emergency or gas leak.

So we have a long list of safety issues to sort out. To start with the fire has been made unusable until we can remove it and install the new one. Of course we won’t install the new one until such time as all of the other issues we’ve found have been dealt with.

The building regulations are not a list of items put in place to complicate peoples lives and make life miserable. The rules are put in place to keep the general public safe. Please remember that the general public also includes your children, your mother your sisters and brothers. No one wants to see someone killed due to faulty equipment or faulty installation.  As I have pointed out to many unqualified gas fitters who install gas appliances over the years. How do you check to see if the appliance is working correctly? With no test equipment and no training you better hope the appliance was not manufactured on a Monday or Friday! I’ve had brand new appliances that have to be sent back or have parts replaced due to safety issues.

The gas fire shown here is being used by an infirmed elderly lady. She has no other source of heat except this fire in the rear lounge and another gas fire in the front lounge. Both fires are well over twenty five years and full of soot, hair and dust. She’s been told that they are safe and believes the person who told her this. We’ve told her the truth. This fire is not safe! It is disconnected.

Related Posts

1. Balancing Act Gas Fire
2. Why Get Your Gas Fire Serviced Every Year!
3. Ex-Husband Home Made Fire Basket and Flue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Carpet Fitters

I was getting to think that nothing much surprises me anymore when it comes to illegal, unsafe and dangerous situations that we uncover on a daily basis. I thought I had seen it all until earlier this week. So when I was called in to service some gas fires at a small accountancy firm I was surprised to find the gas fire shown below in the state it was in. I am used to unqualified builders and kitchen fitters creating unsafe situations but a carpet fitter! This carpet fitter should really stick to carpet fitting. No REALLY mate! Stop screwing with things you don’t understand!

[Show as slideshow]

In the case of this fire as soon as we looked underneath the fire the carpet running up behind the unit was clearly visible. My apprentice who only has eight weeks experience could see there was a problem. I pointed it out to the business owner and continued to work. We cut back the carpet and underlayment, completed our safety checks and put the fire back in place. I was about to undertake a mini tightness test (checking the internal gas fittings of the fire with a gas sniffer) when my detector started buzzing to call my attention to a gas leak. I checked around the fire and couldn’t detect anything so as I worked my way across the room towards the gas restrictor (the point where the gas pipe comes up through the floor and runs towards the fire) the meter was showing a large leak. Interestingly enough, we hadn’t touched the restrictor as we had the gas turned off at the metre.

Of course the culprit had been the carpet fitter. He would have had to remove the fire in order to carpet up behind it. Once he finished laying the carpet he would have tried to re-connect the fire before moving on to the next room. Unfortunately he left three VERY dangerous faults:

1. He left a small gas leak that was small enough that you couldn’t sniff it but was very real. The sniffer picked it up immediately when it was switched on and about one meter away from the actual leak. The carpet fitter had finished the job almost a year ago. Long time to have a gas leak in your office!
2. The other BIG issue is that when the carpet was wrapped up behind the fire it blocked up the air relief hole at the bottom of the closure plate. This particular fire requires  that the relief  hole is open for proper operation.
3. NO ONE! I mean NO ONE should be so stupid as to thinking that carpet should be wrapped up BEHIND a gas fire. Hot fire. Flammable carpet!

So the lesson here is simple. If you have someone on your property to do work and you can see that they’ll have to touch something related to gas, electrics or plumbing. Ask them HOW they will be getting that portion of the work completed that they are unqualified to undertake. If they shrug their shoulders or give you that tooth sucking far away look call someone else. Even if someone has completed work for you which you feel may be unsafe call Gas Safe Register for gas related work and NIC EIC for electric related work.

Related Posts

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Fitters
2. Balancing Act Gas Fire
3. Gas Fire Refurbishment

Bad Tenants

While carrying out a yearly Gas Safety Check (CP12) we came across this gas fire in the front lounge. When we checked the fire last year it was solidly mounted on a ‘crazy paving’ style hearth.  Although a bit dated it did the job that was intended which was to present a non-flammable surface between the fire and the floor covering. This year when we arrived to check the appliances we found the following.

[Show as slideshow]

We’ve temporarily had to remove the fire to make the installation safe and after a word with the landlord the tenants now have to pay to have a proper hearth put back in and the fire re-connected.

Related Posts

1. Ex-Husband Home Made Fire Basket and Flue
2. Gas Fire Refurbishment
3. Over-The-Top Gas Fire Installation

Date: Apr 2009

Description: This gas fire had seen better days but was not really safe to use due to lack of maintenance. We spied the fire when we were on site to look after a boiler issue. As with all gas fires a yearly service is required to clean up the dust and debris that collects in or on the gas jets or opening that allow the gas to flow through to the coals. As seen here this fire had not been serviced for some time and the side panels had fallen out allowing the flames to burn the paint work off the side of the firebox. The fire was still being used.

We ordered up new coals and panels and when thy arrived we gave the gas fire a good service, did a flue flow test to make sure the flue was open and drawing properly, checked the rate of gas being burned and finally did a spillage test to make sure that everything was operating smoothly. We touched up the faded paint work with the proper paint (PLEASE DON’T USE REGULAR SPRAY PAINT AS IT MAY CAUSE A FIRE) put in the replacement panels and coal set. The fire looks as good as new and most importantly it is now safe to use.

Related Posts

1. Radiant Fire To Coal Insert Fire
2. Why Get Your Gas Fire Serviced Every Year!
3. Radiant Gas Fire Replacement

Bad DIY Gas and Flue

Due to the weather this week and a few cancellations I have decided to jump into the archive of weekly pictures that have not won our coveted Cowboy Of The Week Award and show you this gem.  My joiner rang me late last year and asked if I would look at replacing a wooden fire surround for his client.  I went down to take a look and found this basket mounted in an opening which was built by her ex-husband many years ago. When I tried to inspect the flue I couldn’t see anything but a blackened metal plate sitting directly above the fire basket just behind the lintel. As I fished around I discovered that the metal plate sat upon four hexagon nuts supposedly allowing a draft to pull through but no grit to fall onto the fire basket!

Problem was than the nuts were only about a half in high and themselves were only laying loose on the lintel and surrounding brickwork and the metal plate was laying loose on ths nuts! Nothing was fastened o anything else and certainly the design was nothing that had been tested by anybody competent. I asked where the gas isolator was and was told that it was somewhere under the floorboards. ‘There I think’ as she pointed to the floor!

She had already purchased a huge stone surround that she wanted fitting. She had not bought a basket fire but that is what she wanted installed. She also hadn’t planned on the additional costs of correcting the current problems and thought she could just put the new surround around the existing opening. After explaining the safety issues and also aiding her with options via the company she had purchased the surround from she decided she didn’t want to correct the issues. We disconnected and tagged the fire as unsafe and departed.

Related Posts

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Fitters
2. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Engineer
3. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Builder

Date: May 2008

Description: The old gas fire had a slight gas leak that could not be repaired due to lack of available parts. The client found the new fire they wanted and after tessting the old flue we installed it. The installation was straight foward and only took about an hour.

Related Posts

1. Radiant Fire To Coal Insert Fire
2. Plasma Fire
3. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Fitters

Date: March 2008

Description: Our client had already purchased the new fire and asked us to see if they could install it into the existing chimney. Fortunately the location previously had a back boiler and was in good shape with the proper gas pipe work already in place. The flue and terminal also looked good so we proceeded. The fire really made a difference to the room and looks fantastic.

Related Posts

1. Plasma Fire
2. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Gas Fitters

A GOOD example of a BAD gas fire service.

The radiant fire looked like it had never been serviced and before I removed it from the wall I had condemned it due to signs of spillage and the radiants were in poor shape. When I removed the fire to test and inspect the flue I found the improperly sealed closure plate as pictured above! It had been sealed with plastic electricians tape!

Plastic tape and heat just don’t mix! Another deadly fire disconnected and in this case made safe with the installation of a new fire.

Related Posts

1. Danger of the Week Award – Cowboy Electrics
2. Plasma Fire
3. Back Boiler Issues

Date: Mar 2007

Description: During construction our client decided to have the old fire removed and this plasma  fire added. The pipe work was already in place so when the decorating was complete we hung the fire. As you can see, it gives the room a warm focal point.

Related Posts

No related posts.