Everyone wants to save time and money when it comes to house repairs and renovations but using unregistered gas engineers? You really are risking your life.
Who doesn’t want to save time and money? Who isn’t tempted by quick fixes or short cuts? But unregistered gas engineers? Are they worth the risk?
When it comes to house repairs and renovations, there are ways you can cut corners. Steady hand? You could do your own painting and decorating. Adept at DIY? There are loads of online videos showing you how to do a variety of tasks without the need for a professional. With a bit of effort, you can do a lot of household repairs yourself.
However, when it comes to gas and electricity, it is imperative that you play it safe. Because when you’re talking about unregistered gas engineers, you quite literally are playing with fire.
Unregistered gas engineers – a real risk to you and your family
Sadly there are many cowboys out there who are happy to carry out illegal gas work. Simply search online and you’ll find a variety of articles about unregistered engineers being caught and sentenced.
For example, in June, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) determined that Dean Mulholland Blues had carried out work at various properties between September 2016 and December 2017, despite having never been registered with Gas Safe register (a legal requirement). In addition, he was not competent to carry out gas work.
Mulholland Blues advertised on a number of social media sites. He used false names, different telephone numbers and at least three bank accounts in order to evade detection.
His poor and illegal gas work put lives at risk and as such, he was sentenced to a three year custodial sentence.
Elsewhere, Dean Coslett, having already been served with a Prohibition Notice in 2018 to prevent him from undertaking gas work whilst unregistered, continued to breach the notice until April 2019. Coslett used false registration numbers on his paperwork and left applianced incorrectly installed.
Bournemouth Crown Court sentenced him to a three year community supervision order, 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of offender rehabilitation work.
Unregistered gas engineers – a risk to your career
Concerned about unregistered gas engineers? Contact Gas Safe register
It’s very simple – in order to legally work with gas, an individual must have proved that they are competent and they must be a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Once registered, an engineer is issued with an ID card with their relevant competencies clearly marked on the back. However, if you are worried, you can visit the Gas Safe register’s website to check that they are part of the scheme.
We hope you found our article, ‘Unregistered gas engineers – what are the risks?’ of interest. Please feel free to get in touch for further information about our gas training and refresher courses.
