An illegal gas boiler installation could have potentially caused serious harm to a young family, a court has heard.
In a hearing at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on September 9th, Josephine Zielinski, a resident of Proctor Gardens in Leatherhead, admitted breaching Regulation 3(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations, and was fined £1,000 with costs of £845.
Magistrates were told that Ms Zielinski, who traded as JBZ Builders, had asked her son – an employee of the firm – to move a boiler flue in a property in Tunbridge Wells. This was despite the fact that neither JBZ Builders and the employee himself were on the Gas Safe Register, as the law requires.
The flue was moved in June 2013 and vented from another external wall.
Some time later, the family arranged for their plumbing system to be flushed, and the plumber noticed that the flue installation appeared to be sub-standard. A Gas Safe engineer looked at the installation on November 11th 2013 and found that several aspects of the boiler installation did not meet required standards, with some components classed as ‘at risk’.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was informed of the problem and conducted its own investigations. It then decided to charge Ms Zielinski with a breach of gas safety regulations.
Rob Hassell, an inspector for the HSE, revealed that a new-born child had been put in danger of exposure to carbon monoxide and other dangerous by-products of gas combustion as a result of the illegal boiler installation.
He explained that work to gas flues constitutes gas work, but admitted that some in the construction industry may misunderstand this. This work must only be undertaken by qualified Gas Safe engineers, he added.
Gas appliances and flues that are improperly ventilated, maintained or installed can take the lives of people, he added.
Gas Safe Register Chief Executive Russell Kramer encouraged people to check the Gas Safe ID of anyone who works on gas appliances.
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Don’t attempt to touch any part of your boiler or central heating system if you’re unsure. Did you know? It’s illegal for anyone to use a gas appliance if they think it’s unsafe. It’s always better to be safe than sorry as you could make things worse.
Instead, call us on 0345 3192 247 and we can help. Our technical team will run through some simple troubleshooting to see if your problem can be resolved on the phone or they can book one of our friendly and knowledgeable Gas Safe registered engineers to get you back up and running as soon as possible.
