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Kitchen fitter tried to cover up illegal and incompetent gas work
A kitchen fitter has been given a suspended prison sentence after he admitted carrying out gas work illegally and faking the details of a registered gas engineer.
Exeter Crown Court heard that Brian Squibb, from Exeter, trading as BKS Kitchens and Bathrooms, was contracted to fit kitchens, and signed an installer agreement giving the name of a Gas Safe engineer whom he would use for gas work.
However, in summer 2019, Mr Squibb carried out the gas work himself at two properties in Exeter, falsely using another person’s name and registration number. He removed an existing natural gas hob, capped a live gas supply, and failed to check for gas tightness.
The HSE investigation found that Mr Squibb had never been registered. However, after he completed the work, he produced documentation for the homeowners, falsely using a registered gas engineer’s name and registration details.
Brian Squibb of Elizabeth Avenue, Exeter, Devon, pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 3(1), 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs of £4,250.
After the hearing, HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Brian Squibb undertook gas work, which he knew he was not registered to do. He then tried to cover up his unregistered and incompetent gas work by producing fraudulent documentation.”
Technical Bulletin update
Technical Bulletin 155 has been revised to include the revised HHIC Installer Guide: Condensate discharge pipe installation.
You can read and download all Technical Bulletins by signing into your online account at
www.GasSafeRegister. co.uk/sign-in
G3 unvented qualification certificates
If you’re intending to notify unvented hot water cylinders that are connected to a heat-producing gas appliance, you’ll need to provide Gas Safe Register with a valid copy of your G3 Unvented qualification certificate.
Gas Safe Register will only accept a certificate where the expiry date is no more than five years from the date of issue.
Gas Safe Register will be contacting a number of registered businesses by email over the coming months to request a copy of engineers’ certificates. Please keep an eye out for the email.
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When you use the app, you’ll find a useful archive of previous editions too, and a news stream of the latest updates from around the industry. And if you’re looking for a new role, there’s a jobs board. Every issue is fully searchable so you can always find just what you’re looking for in the palm of your hand.
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And don’t forget to check out www.registeredgasengineer.co.uk for the fastest way to stay up to date with news from Gas Safe Register and around the industry.
Download full digital magazine editions to your phone and tablet with the free app Don’t miss the latest news from Gas Safe Register and around the industry when you use the free app
Takeaway owner is served with suspended sentence
A Birmingham takeaway owner has been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to wear an electronic tag after he was found guilty failing to maintain the gas boiler at his business.
Mohammed Shafique (59) of Newbridge Road, Birmingham, was found guilty in December 2020 at Birmingham Magistrates’s Court of not maintaining the boiler at Kin’s Crunchy Chicken, also in Newbridge Road. He was sentenced in January 2021.
A gas engineer carrying out a meter exchange for a utility company reported the boiler installation to Birmingham City Council’s Environmental Health team in September 2018. He had found a large gap where the chimney/flue should have been connected to the boiler, and disconnected the gas supply.
Mr Shafique was served with Improvement Notices in October 2018, which required him to arrange for a competent person to connect the chimney/flue and service the boiler. The correct chimney/flue was fitted the following month.
The council’s investigation found that the boiler had not been serviced for at least three years. Mr Shafique was unable to provide any servicing records, and said he had not tried to find a qualified gas engineer.
Mr Shafique was found guilty of breaches of the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 and the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended. He was given a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a 12-week curfew. He was ordered to pay costs of £1,500.
Philip Davis, chair of the city council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “This incident shows what can happen if any business fails to maintain gas appliances in line with health and safety requirements. This could have resulted in serious or life-changing injuries.
“Fortunately, the gas engineer recognised this serious fault before it caused any harm.”
ELECSA customers to transfer to NICEIC
Certsure’s ELECSA brand is being retired from all its schemes, with customers transferring to NICEIC. Kevan Parker, managing director of Certsure, says: “Historically we have operated the two brands, both wedded to our core values of delivering technical excellence and raising standards. However, our assessment processes and the assessors who deliver them are the same. So, too, are the customer service and technical helpline teams that work behind the scenes.
“We know that verifiers and consumers have 13 times greater awareness of the NICEIC brand compared with all other electrical certification bodies, and we want to focus our resources and attention on just one brand.”
The transition of all ELECSA customers will be completed by November 2022 but Kevan adds: “Customers who are registered with ELECSA will be contacted six weeks prior to their renewal date.”
Claim your £150 training reward with APHC
APHC (Training) has 100 training rewards worth £150 each to give away to plumbing and heating companies during 2021. The registered charity runs the reward scheme every year to help safeguard the long-term professional development of the industry by incentivising plumbing and heating engineers to refresh their knowledge and gain new skills.
The £150 reward can be used for a certificated course with a recognised training provider, such as APHC, BPEC, City & Guilds and all UKAS-approved ACS providers. The vouchers are valid in England and Wales and gas engineers do not need to be a member of APHC.
Delegates can train remotely using Microsoft Teams for two hours a day for up to four days. At the end, they carry out an online assessment using a blend of long answer and multiple-choice questions and visual exercises.
The 2021 course programme includes Legionella Cold Water Risk Assessment & Disinfection; Domestic Hot Water Storage Systems (Unvented) and Sanitary and Above Ground Drainage.
www.aphc.co.uk/training-reward
Heat pump market ‘set to double in 2021’
Sales of heat pumps are anticipated to nearly double in 2021 to 67,000, according to a member survey by the Heat Pump Association.
Around 35,000 heat pumps were sold in 2019, and the association says the near doubling of the market is a significant step in the right direction. The growth also aligns closely with the HPA’s roadmap to net zero, which called for 72,000 heat pump installations this year.
The Heat Pump Association wants to prepare and upskill installers so they can recommend and deploy heat pumps at the scale required by the government’s net-zero ambition.
The association outlined a new scalable route to becoming a heat pump installer in its 2020 report, Building the Installer Base for Net Zero Heating. The route proposed begins with a technology-neutral, low-temperature heating course, before specialising in low-carbon technologies, including heat pumps.
Phil Hurley, chair of the Heat Pump Association, says: “The near doubling of the heat pump market this year would be a substantial achievement. Our members are committed to turning today’s forecast into a reality and have clearly backed this up with their advanced ordering.
“The estimation of 67,000 heat pumps in 2021 shows the confidence from members of the HPA in delivering the scale-up of heat pumps that the Prime Minister’s Ten-Point Plan necessitates.”
Time to shine on World Plumbing Day
The critical worker status of plumbing and heating engineers has changed the way people view the industry. On 11 March, World Plumbing Day will shine a light on how those in the trade have been on the front lines, risking contact with Covid-19 so that they can keep the public safe and warm in their homes.
World Plumbing Day was created in 2010 to promote the vital link between good-quality plumbing, health, environmental sustainability and, increasingly, economic prosperity. The occasion raises awareness of the importance of plumbing and plumbers worldwide.
Kevin Wellman, CEO of CIPHE, says: “It’s been a whirlwind of a year. Plumbing has sat at the heart of tackling the pandemic, from the clean water, taps and sinks we use to wash our hands, to the sanitation systems we use to help stop the spread of viruses and bacteria.
“In the latest lockdown, PPE-clad engineers have been the local heroes, fixing coldweather emergencies such as broken-down boilers and burst pipes, in very tough situations.
“This World Plumbing Day, the CIPHE applauds the way our members and the entire industry have persevered through the past year. At the same time, we implore those in positions of authority to act upon the issues the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light upon.
“Our industry will have a huge role to play in supporting homeowners and businesses through a recovery, and those hero capes will be staying firmly in place for the foreseeable future.”
‘Plumbers are the trades people needed the most’
Plumbers were the most in-demand tradespeople in 2020, followed by electricians, according to research by Vanarama and Rated People. Almost two-thirds of the survey’s 1,000 respondents (64 per cent) said they called out a tradesperson in 2020, of whom 23 per cent needed a plumber, and 11 per cent an electrician.
Spending more time at home during lockdowns and the rise in home working had made 52 per cent of people more aware of issues around them that needed fixing.
The rise in demand for tradespeople led to some noticeable wait times, with 29 per cent of people saying they’d had to wait for longer than usual to book in a tradesperson’s time.
£4 million fine for National Grid Gas over missing high-rise records
National Grid Gas plc has been fined £4 million for failing to ensure its records were up to date relating to gas risers in some high-rise multi-occupancy buildings.
Liverpool Crown Court previously heard that, in June 2017, the HSE requested information from gas distribution network (GDN) companies about their management of gas networks in high-rise multiple-occupancy buildings (HRMOBs).
At the time, National Grid Gas operated the nationwide gas transmission system and the gas distribution systems supplying gas to around half the UK’s domestic and industrial gas customers, including the gas pipes in HRMOBs.
However, in 2016 National Grid Gas sold part of its operations to Cadent Gas Ltd, including the activities to which the failings relate. HSE’s investigation revealed that the records that National Grid Gas transferred to Cadent when it sold its gas networks were incomplete. There had been no audits or reviews when the records issue came to light in December 2017. This meant that Cadent was continuing to inspect only the buildings on the existing database.
Cadent’s management records were found to be incomplete: details about 769 buildings were missing, which meant that the gas risers in these HRMOBs had not been surveyed, inspected or had any routine maintenance for a number of years.
Additionally, the investigation found that National Grid Gas had failed to ensure that 112 HRMOBs had pipeline isolation valves (PIVs) so that gas to these buildings could be isolated in the event of an incident.
As a result of this, HSE undertook a criminal investigation that considered the risk to which residents and members of the public were exposed. Enforcement notices were issued in April 2018 requiring Cadent to take remedial action. Cadent took appropriate action and complied with the notices by September 2018.
National Grid Gas plc, of 1-3 Strand, London, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 in November 2020.
In February 2021, the company was fined £4 million at Liverpool Crown Court and ordered to pay costs of £91,805.
After the hearing, HM principal inspector for HSE, Julie Voce said: “Our investigations found that people living and working in the high-rise buildings where the failings took place were not protected from the risk of gas leaks.
“National Grid Gas did not have a robust system for recording the details of the gas pipes within these buildings. Opportunities arose where National Grid Gas identified data errors, but these were never satisfactorily acted upon, and opportunities to correct the situation were missed.”
