Illegal heating engineer

[Gromit]

Hello gentleman. I've had a new boiler and cylinder installed. I became suspicious after a few things were done wrong - nothing serious, but silly things like wires being attached to hot pipes instead of being properly tied to the wall and also the controller was wired wrong which meant that the pump was contantly running.

Anyway, after I pointed these issues out they were resolved but as I said I became suspicious and asked to see the installer's Gas Safe card. It transpired that neither installer was Gas Safe even though they started the system and ran it for a week before their Gas Safe engineer came along and signed it off (he was Gas Safe - I saw his card).

What, if anything can I do about these people, passing themselves off as qualified and illegally installing boilers? It looks like I've got away with it but what might they do to others I'm thinking. These blokes are from Poland and their Gas Safe friend who signed it off is also Polish. Thing is the Gas Safe guy didn't do the work and came to inspect a system which the non registered guys had already connected and commissioned.

Also I bet the electrician wasn't qualified either. If I hadn't noticed, because they wired the controller up wrong the pump would still be running 24/7 and God knows what would have happened. I hate people who masquarade as qualified in a trade with potentially lethal results.

 

[shorticus]

Give Gas Safe a call 0800 408 5500 and let them know

 

[Gromit]

Thing is that as the guy is not registered there isn't anything Gas Safe could do to him. Criminal offence I'd have thought but I doubt old bill would be interested.

 

[shorticus]

Gromit they certainly will want to know and yes they can take action click on this link it'll take you straight to the reporting section;
Report an illegal gas worker

 

[shorticus]

PS. don't forget that Gas Safe is run by Capita who are under licence from the HSE

 

[Gromit]

Thank you. I have a real problem with people who work with anything dangerous ie gas or electricity without qualifications. If a plumber does a bodge job the worst that happens is a flood. If a so called gas engineer or electrician gets it wrong it can be catastrophic. It takes a long time to train to do a trade the legal way and in this case some bloke gets off a coach from Poland one day and starts installing boilers the next. If he hadn't connected it I wouldn't be so angry, but me and the mrs and two young kids were living for a week next to an illegally installed boiler.

 

[Toddyplumb]

Plumbers can do a lot worse than a flood. Unvented BOOM

 

[Gromit]

I didn't know plumbers were allowed to work on cylinders. Bang

 

[metaldust9]

there not they need g3 unvented cylinders its a diffrent qualifcation hence what toddyplumb said ,just wonder why you got polish people when there are plenty of british gas safe people

 

[wnjswozo]

you pay for what you get,polish undercutting us.
dont want to alarm you but you,ve spotted basic errors on display,what about plumbing/gas fittings under floors/in boxing in.
saving a few quid,i,ve no sypthy for you,you took a risk ,now its going to cost you more,i know i would,nt be happy until its ripped out and replaced,also the second guy could of had a fake gas card.you live and learn

 

[CMairiD]

For me, the pertinent question is why didn't you ask for the Gas Safe card before work commenced? Asking for it afterwards is a bit like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. And if there were no installation faults, would you have asked for the card at all?

By all means report them, but next time: no card, no work.

 

[shorticus]

no need for xenophobia, lets not forget we went to war for our Polish brothers lol )

 

[metaldust9]

shorticus if you had been through the questions av ad to do this week and the tests it makes me wonder why gas safe arnt more stringent and heavier with fines for illiegal work ive earned half what i should this yr just to get thro it and yet someone can do it no questions asked no comebacks etc

ps only got by cos the wife done her bit

 

[shorticus]

shorticus if you had been through the questions av ad to do this week and the tests it makes me wonder why gas safe arnt more stringent and heavier with fines for illiegal work ive earned half what i should this yr just to get thro it and yet someone can do it no questions asked no comebacks etc

ps only got by cos the wife done her bit

I agree that the penalties fall far short of what they should be. If you go back to the begining of this thread you'll see that I was trying to encourage the reporting of these people. I've just returned to gas work after some absense and have had to go through the re-training and assesments and am still on 'probation' (lovely term, not!) with gas safe. This is regardless of the fact that I was CORGI registered for many years including way back when it was the 'Confederation' for the Registration of Gas Installers i.e. when it was voluntary not compulsary. I have always been an advocat of safe gas work and I loathe those that break the rules and risk peoples lives. I'm having a tough time too but we joined the eu for better or worse and I can't agree with having a pop at someone for their nationality, if they're unsafe and breaking the law sure, but not just 'cause they're from another country.

 

[quality]

I have been on a training course this week at a local center and it was easy for me to get there apart from the last 1/2 mile or so cause we had to walk down the industrial estate due to the obvious.

there was supposed to be 8 candidates but ended with just 2 and that was me and a Polish kid the other 6 were English and did not bother for one reason or another.

I think I traveled 5 miles in total but the other Polish lad had drove 30 odd mile and found the place with his sat nav in his hand and had walked much further in the snow than I had.

I have never been racist and have no reason to be but its this sort of effort which a lot of employed British folk are lacking

 

[metaldust9]

yep defo agree with ye ,hard to report people tho unless its something really silly and dangerous when ive been working with my m8 we,ve tended to just fix it altho woundnt let dangerous stuff go in my own rite i just double check everything and what am not sure of id ask gas safe or read my corgi book ,you see and here them talking in the plumbing shops

 

[metaldust9]

i agree its not about being polish its about being safe its just the person who first wrote the thread said they were polish who fitted it so why go foreign when there not much work here

 

[quality]

One lad who works for me is jokingly called "polystyrene" because his dad is polish and his mum a Pakistani.
He is British born and bread gets paid well and works hard
bonus is he don`t eat pork so one less bacon roll each morning

 

[metaldust9]

like i said in an earleir post ave spent £8000 this yr whiich is all my savings and credit cards to get by and get regestered am on the last leg and hopefully i,ll get sorted av had to be told to go away politley by engineers who dont want to help cos they think your taking business off them ive been lucky i cos i bumped in to a great gsr bloke who for the last yr has helped me i owe him a lot i dont wana risk my business that ive built up over the last 3 yrs by being ilegal only takes one person to be unhappy and ye knackered its been a struggle but fingers crossed

 

[Centralheatking]

hrp - heating replacement parts dont sell any gas gear to anybody without a gas card - shame
more arnt like it - mind you it stops me buying the boys gear cause i only manage the business now.

centralheatking

 

[shorticus]

like i said in an earleir post ave spent £8000 this yr whiich is all my savings and credit cards to get by and get regestered am on the last leg and hopefully i,ll get sorted av had to be told to go away politley by engineers who dont wat to help cos they think your taking business off them ive been lucky i cos i bumped in to a great gsr bloke who for the last yr has helped me i owe him a lot i dont wana risk my business that ive built up over the last 3 yrs by being ilegal only takes one person to be unhappy and ye knackered its been a struggle but fingers crossed

Ah yes savings, I remember them, here's wishing us both luck brother lol

 

[metaldust9]

yep all the best m8

 

[quality]

Yep you need help and luck in this game. Another lad who works from me lives in ancotes manchester.
he comes to work and goes home when he is finished all across yorkshire , lincolnshire etc

I came across him by accident been with me 6 years now we call him 7-11 because 7 minus 11 is 4 and that is the number of hours a day he spends not at work

 

[Gromit]

Thanks for your responses and advice. Mr Wnjswozo I appear to have hit a nerve. The irony is that I hired the guys who did the work on the basis of recomendation and their nationality was beside the point. You've assumed that they undercut other quotes and add that you have no sympathy for me. I am not looking for sympathy, just advice. So far as examining cards is concerned and taking people on face value I have no doubt been naive. I've never asked to check if my dentist or solicitor is the real deal and in my world I've always taken people on face value - something which of course I will never do again. I have used some fabulous Polish tradesmen and some awful English ones - and of course in this case visa versa.

From where I'm sitting there are two types of English tradesmen: the proper tradesmen - the kind of men who contribute to this forum - knowledgeable and who do it by the book. And there's the others - the minority who spoil it for the rest. Lazy, tea drinking, crack showing blokes who think the world owes them a favour and it isn't surprising that the result is so many people turning to foreign labour as an alternative and price is not necessarily the reason.

 

[metaldust9]

i didnt say i had no sympathy for you i just wondered why you didnt go local in times like this when theres not much work about and everyones trying to under cut you ,fair doo,s if you went of recomendation theres loads out there doing it how youve described good and bad its just annoying when youve had to pay out loads and be legal at the end of the day each to there own am just happy doing it the way i do

 

[wnjswozo]

meant no offence,said it how it is on the ground,dentists/solicitors are unlikely to kill you.
a skilled ,apprenticed trained gas engineer,is unlikely to be in the minority you describe,
its a fact of life in this country,due to our lax immgration policy we have all sorts of builders/coming over here and basically cutting corners,
not trained ,no public liability insurance,no gas safe regerstration, as a small business were not on a level playing field.
i know there are some legit foriegn companys which i have no problem with.

 

[Bad Religion]

I would be getting another independent gas safe registered company in to inspect their work, mates signing off mates work isn't always the best way of confirming compliance

 

[metaldust9]

woudnt let anyone in my hose without public liability insurance,what if they knock the torch over and burn ye house down ive got it, £30 a month

 

[Gromit]

You make a good point Mr Bad Religion. You could say that a Gas Safe mate signing off an illegal mate is a party to the crime.