DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘DIY Property Maintenance ‘

It’s getting on to the end of the year. No Really! If you don’t believe me take a walk through your town centre. Christmas sales and decorate remind us that the cold weather is coming. My interest in the seasonal change however is safety. The big burning ball of mostly hydrogen called the sun is around in shorter supply every day. Especially here in Oldham. Your heating systems and fires are starting to get turned onto supplement.  If you haven’t had your fire or boiler serviced recently here’s at least one good reason why you should. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Gas Fitters’

Now here’s one we see on a very regular basis and I do mean regular. The gas fitting on the wall has been installed incorrectly and in such a way as to cause mechanical damage to the gas hose when the cooker is withdrawn. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Building Works and Electrics’
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 522.8.4, 522.6.1, 522.2.1, 528.3.1, 522.6.8, 522.8.14

This weeks winner was uncovered while on site to undertake an unrelated and simple plumbing job. Upon arrival at the property I noticed two flues (one boiler for hot water and another boiler for central heating)  emerging from the brickwork. This quick look while walking up the drive uncovered several safety  sissues that need to be resolved. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad ‘Kitchen Fitters
Regulations broken: BS7671:2008 Reg. 132.12, 526.3, 421.7, 526.5, 411.3.1.1,537.5.1.3, 132.15.1, 132.15.2

I was called to a home last month and asked if I could swap a gas hob and double oven for an electric hob and double oven. They had a proper electrical feed to the kitchen so we booked the job in and returned yesterday. We found the little gem shown below along with a few other issues while carrying out the work to remove the double oven.  So after step one which is always to test the gas supply for leaks before we touch anything. We found no leaks and continued to remove the old appliances.  The hob was installed incorrectly but we managed to get it out with few difficulties.  The double oven however was a different matter. continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad Plumbing
Regulations broken:BS6700:1997 Clause 3.1.7

My neighbour recently asked if we could repair a few plumbing issues at his property. I went over to take a look and found a dead electric shower and a few taps that needed replacing. I was then shown a water meter installation that looked like Niagara Falls! Water appeared to be coming out of every connector. The leaks had been getting worse and before anyone noticed the kitchen unit surrounding the pipe work had been damaged beyond repair. The cause of the problem? continue

We received a phone call last week from Ms. Reynolds who lives in Glasgow, Scotland. She was looking for some advice. Her recently installed boiler froze up in the cold snap a few weeks back. She has called the installer who showed up, removed a section of the condensate waste pipe that was frozen and then left it like that. As you will see from the photos below the open end of the waste pipe coming from the boiler is now leaking acidic water onto her garage roof where it is freezing! That’s not all! continue

DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bad DIY ‘Gas Engineers’
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 E: Gas Appliances – Flues/ Regulation H1 – Paragraph 1.14

While working on a re-wire last week we spied this pooly installed boiler across the alley from where we were working. Our first impression was that it was installed with much haste and with little background knowledge. After speaking with the tenant all was confirmed. continue