Following on from our recent story ‘Can you trust your boiler engineer‘ this article backs up the importance of making sure that your boiler installation is carried out by a reputable company that actually carries the right credentials. Sure you can ‘get it done on the cheap’ but at what cost? It turns out that two brothers from the Torbay area had installed a gas boiler in someones property that could have led to a major gas explosion. Very dangerous indeed.
The Torquay Herald Express reported:
Lee Butterworth, 43, of Oxley Close, Torquay, who trades as English Riviera Building Company Ltd, contracted his brother Scott Butterworth, 41, of Marine Drive, Paignton, to carry out the work despite Scott not being a member of Gas Safe Register.
Luckily for the owner of the house and of course the surrounding nieghbours, the problem was identified by a registered and fully qualified gas safe engineer. He had found a leak in the gas pipework that if left unresolved could turn the house into a huge fire bomb just waiting to be ignited by any small spark.
Both brothers pleaded guilty to 2 counts of gas safety regulation breaches and were both sentenced to 10 weeks behind bars.
Mr Simon Jones, speaking at the hearing said:
A simple check on the Gas Safe Register website would have alerted him to the fact that his brother was not registered but Lee Butterworth did not do this simple check, but allowed his brother to undertake illegal gas work. The poor standard of work in this case could have had tragic consequences for the homeowners.
This further outlines that it is so vitally important to make sure that any gas related work that is carried out on your home MUST be done by a certified professional. If you are worried or simply need to check if someone you have used is on the gas safety register list simply follow this link.
