News

Jail for dangerous gas fitter who used fake IDs

A fake gas fitter whose dangerous work put lives at risk in the North-east of England has been sent to prison for three years.

Dean Blues from County Durham advertised his services on various social media sites from September 2016 to December 2017, using false names, several telephone numbers and at least three bank accounts to evade detection, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

HSE, prosecuting, said his poor and illegal workmanship had put lives at risk in seven homes, exposing residents to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, asphyxiation, fire and explosion. The homes, in Houghton le Spring, Washington, Blaydon on Tyne, South Shields, Hebburn, Spennymoor and Middlesbrough, contained a catalogue of problems.

In one home, the pipework sleeve from the gas meter box was not sealed correctly, the flue assembly had not been sealed internally or externally to the structure of the building, the appliance’s combustion chamber was missing a retaining screw and another was partially tightened, which meant that a proper seal was not formed.

In another, there was a gas escape and its flue fell apart when poked. Several other homes had experienced gas escapes and contained work that was Immediately Dangerous.

Mr Blues had never been Gas Safe registered and was not competent to work on gas. HSE had been investigating him in Scotland previously.

Dean Mulholland Blues of Annand Way, Newton Aycliffe, pleaded guilty to 24 breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was disqualified from being the director of a company for 12 years.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Jonathan Wills said: “If anyone has had any gas work carried out by Mr Blues, I urge them to ensure that the work is now checked by a registered Gas Safe engineer as soon as possible.”

Products of combustion were spilling into home

A Newcastle construction company director has been given a suspended prison sentence after his work on a home extension left the gas boiler venting products of combustion inside.

Newcastle upon Tyne Magistrates’ Court heard that a mother and her two children suffered from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning during building work in April 2018 at their home in Lichfield Avenue. HSE, prosecuting, said David Coulson, from Newcastle upon Tyne, had left the boiler in use during the building work even though the supporting wall to which it was secured had been removed and the extension built around it. The boiler was perched on top of a breeze block with the flue venting inside so that products of combustion were entering the home.

The family and their dog all showed symptoms of CO poisoning, and the children were given oxygen at hospital. The homeowner raised her concerns with Mr Coulson as she could see fumes spilling into the property but he denied that this was the case.

Mr Coulson, director of Coulson Constructions North East Ltd, arranged for the boiler to be moved and the flue routed to outside but this was not carried out by a registered gas engineer. A Gas Safe Register investigations officer found that the installation was At Risk even after the boiler had been moved.

David Coulson of Gofton Walk, Newcastle upon Tyne, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 and Section 20 (2)(j) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 24 months, told to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay costs of £5,200.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Paul Wilson said: “Construction work can and must be planned properly to ensure the health and safety of those potentially affected throughout the building project.”

To report illegal gas work please call 0800 408 5577 or go to www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk/reportillegal

Fitter ignored Prohibition Notice not to work on gas

A Dorset gas fitter has been given a three-year community supervision order for carrying out gas work illegally, breaching a Prohibition Notice, and using expired Gas Safe Register credentials.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard that Dean Coslett, trading as Dorset Boiler Company, fitted gas boilers in a number of properties in Dorset between December 2017 and April 2019 while he was not registered. Mr Coslett did not fit the boilers in line with the manufacturers’ instructions and left flues incorrectly fitted and unsupported. He used his expired Gas Safe registration details on paperwork, says HSE.

In September 2018, HSE had served Mr Coslett with a Prohibition Notice banning him from undertaking gas work while he was not registered. However, he breached this Prohibition Notice and continued to work on gas.

Dean Coslett of Sevenoaks Drive, Bournemouth, had been registered in his own right previously and as an engineer for a registered business.

Mr Coslett pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974. He was sentenced to a three-year community supervision order, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of offender rehabilitation work. He was also ordered to pay £900 compensation to a number of homeowners for the sub-standard work he carried out in their homes.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Simon Jones said: “Dean Coslett undertook gas work, which he knew he was not registered to do and flagrantly breached an order prohibiting him from undertaking gas work whilst he was not registered.”

Digital Benchmark added to Baxi Works Toolbelt app

Baxi has integrated the new Benchmark app with its Toolbelt App, the digital platform that its customers use when on site. Baxi Works engineers can access the checklist digitally, along with Gas Safe notifications, warranty information and registration other on-site support features, all in one place.

When Toolbelt users input information into the Benchmark feature, this acts as a boiler passport, recording installation, servicing and commissioning data in one centralised platform. Using this app, they can keep track of installations completed to the Benchmark standard, as well as ones that still need to be done. Baxi’s Toolbelt App also includes a complete list of error codes, key contacts, plus direct access to Baxi Works for quick and easy boiler registration.

The Benchmark app makes it easier and quicker to record all the commissioning and servicing data that currently needs to be filled in by hand.

Baxi Residential sales director David Cook says: “With a large proportion of Baxi Works members already actively registering boilers using the Toolbelt App, the incorporation of the Benchmark Checklist will encourage our valued Baxi Works installers to prioritise safety and quality by taking a whole-life approach to boiler care, with information such as installation and servicing history for engineers readily accessible through the Toolbelt App.”

Users need to download the latest version of the Toolbelt app to be linked up to the Benchmark App.

www.baxi.co.uk/trade/ technical-support/baxitoolbelt-app

TB 055 updated

Technical Bulletin 055 Duties of landlords – has been updated to include a new question and answer. No other material changes have been made. Q10. Is there any leeway in the renewal date of the safety check? The renewal date is the date by which the next safety check must be carried out. There can be no overrun of this date. However, Regulation 36 now allows for ‘MOT-style’ checks that can be carried out up to two months early, while retaining the renewal date.

For instance, a landlord’s gas safety check that is due for renewal on 12 April 2021 can be carried out any time between that date and 12 February 2021, and the renewal date of this check would be 12 April 2022. The last two safety checks must be retained for this to come into effect.

• To read Technical Bulletins, log into your online account at www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk/sign-in

Correction

Our June article Landlord’s gas safety checks and records, included information about what defects should be listed on the LGSR, and stated: “If the appliance is supplied with LPG, you should notify the supplier, and in any other cases you should notify the transporter.”

We would like to clarify that this action should only be taken when an Immediately Dangerous situation is identified and the responsible person refuses permission to disconnect the appliance/installation, in accordance with Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP), known as IGEM/G/11.

You can contact Gas Safe Register’s Technical Helpline for further information and support on on 0800 408 5577.

Competition winners

Congratulations to the winners of our April competition, with training prizes provided by London Gas Training Centre. The winners were William Dowson from Brackley, Shailash Singh from Gravesend, and Richard Swan from Helston. They each won their choice of an unvented course, 18th Edition training, or a discount on their ACS re-assessment.

Navien loyalty scheme offers points for purchases

Navien has launched the Navien Choice loyalty scheme, where gas and oil boiler engineers can earn reward points for every NCB-CE combi, NCB-CE system and LCB700 Blue Flame oil boiler they register.

Rewards available include Sony wireless speakers and pizza ovens, PlayStation 5 consoles, TVs, barbeques, iPhones and holiday vouchers.

Points can either be banked or redeemed immediately for instant rewards, with participants able to claim a Sony wireless speaker after registering just one NCB combi gas boiler. Installing nine LCB700 oil boilers would bag enough points for a 43-inch 4K television or an iPad.

Engineers can sign up to the loyalty scheme and simply register their boiler installations using the Navien Installer App, by scanning the barcode on the product’s serial label.

The app is free to download from Google Play and the App Store. Engineers can also register their installation by post or email.

www.navienchoice.com

Refer a friend and earn vouchers with Graham

Graham Plumbers’ Merchant has introduced Plumber’s Best Mate, a trade referral scheme that rewards customers for introducing a friend. The Plumber’s Best Mate scheme uses a three-tier system in which tradespeople can receive up to £500 to redeem against future orders in branch.

Existing customers can refer Graham to a friend, who must then register via the Plumber’s Best Mate webpage and open an account. During their application, they must provide the details of the person who referred them, using that individual’s Graham account number.

After the new customer has opened an account, they can achieve one of three reward tiers, depending on their total Graham account spend during the first three months.

Plumber’s Best Mate is available to existing Graham customers only.

www.grahamdirect.co.uk/ promotions/plumbers-bestmate

James turns his garden into Covid memorial

Lancashire gas engineer James Anderson has transformed his front garden into a public memorial to those who have died during the Coronavirus pandemic.

James runs not-for-profit company DEPHER, which hit the headlines in 2019 after news spread about his work providing free plumbing and heating repairs to elderly and disabled people.

The memorial garden features a wishing well, benches, a dedication plaque, and pots so that people can come and plant flowers. James hopes it will give people a place to sit and remember their loved ones, or just to come together and reflect on the past year.

“A lot of people have lost their lives,” he says. “As a community, we need to keep that sense of community spirit and never forget what has happened. The garden is there to say to everyone, ‘come in and take a moment to remember’.”

Throughout the pandemic, DEPHER has supported its local community, spending more than £100,000 on food, PPE and utility bills for those in need, and even paying funeral bills.

DEPHER is continuing its work but James says the donations on which it relies have fallen by 90 per cent due to the pandemic.

www.depher.co.uk

A free scheme support service from MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) is designed for gas engineers who want support to get their renewables work off the ground and who are thinking about becoming certified.

The service offers one-to-one advisor support, workshops, masterclasses and sharing of technical information.

The team offer online, telephone and face-to-face support for gas engineers who are working towards becoming MCS certified, as well as technical support and guidance on how to comply with MCS requirements.

Julian Hodgson and Steve Webster cover the UK, meeting with gas engineers to offer free guidance and support.

As a former trainer, technical assessor and installer of renewable heating, Julian has experience of MCS from both sides of the fence, and is an apprentice-trained heating engineer.

Steve is a heating and renewables engineer, a member of the CIPHE and EngTech with the UK Engineering Council. He has run his own MCScertified heating and renewable energy business installing PV, heat pump and solar thermal technologies.

MCS CEO Ian Rippin says: “We are working hard to remove barriers to entry for installers, having recognised the challenges faced when attempting to make the pivot into the renewables sector.

“The launch of this free scheme support offering from MCS signals the start of this.”

Get hybrid-ready with free Daikin training

Daikin is providing free training on hybrid heat pumps to help gas engineers tap into this market. Available until the end of 2021, the one-day training aims to give engineers the skills and knowledge to offer hybrid heat pumps to homeowners looking to start their decarbonisation journey.

Hybrid heat pumps combine a gas boiler and heat pump, working together to provide heating and hot water, and Daikin says they’re the ideal replacement for a combi boiler as a first step towards renewable heating.

Iain Bevan, commercial manager, Heating & Renewables, says: “Hybrid heat pumps are an attractive solution for installers and homeowners who want to go green, combining the power of a heat pump with the familiarity of a boiler. Their installation, commissioning and service is similar to traditional boilers.”

The manageable upfront cost of a hybrid system is one of its key selling points, as is the installation process, which minimises disruption to customers.

The company says hybrid technology is best suited to smaller homes in urban areas that are likely to have a combi boiler, and where the building fabric is not energy efficient enough to be heated by a fully renewable system.

www.daikin.co.uk/ hybridtraining

Free support service from MCS

Travis Perkins sells plumbing arm for £325 million

Travis Perkins has sold its plumbing and heating divisions to HIG Capital, an alternative investment firm, for £325 million, with the sale expected to be completed shortly.

City Plumbing Supplies (CPS) and Plumbing Trade Supplies (PTS) have more than 350 branches across the UK and Ireland, alongside specialist online outlets including the Underfloor Heating Store, Direct Heating Spares, PlumbNation, and National Shower Spares.

HIG says it will support the company in its transition to an independent company and accelerate expansion in the UK and Ireland.

P&H CEO Dave Evans says: “The sale to HIG is great news for P&H and its stakeholders. We are recognised as a market leader across many of our businesses and the categories they operate in, and I am very excited to work with the team at HIG to capitalise on the enormous potential for growth.

“We are well positioned to push forward with our plans for growth by developing more customer-focused propositions delivered by over 3,000 dedicated team members.”

Tobias Borkowski, principal at HIG Europe, says: “We believe that the company, as a freestanding enterprise, can better serve the individual needs of its customers, and rapidly expand its trusted relationships with suppliers.”

Plea for more time to transition to UKCA mark

More time is needed to transition construction products to the new UKCA mark from the EU’s CE mark, say industry organisations. Without it, they warn that the industry could come to a standstill.

The UKCA mark is intended to replace the CE mark by the end of this year but Actuate UK, the engineering services sector body, wants an extension of the transition time to avoid delays and allow all products to be tested and accredited.

The problem with the limited transition period is being exacerbated by the lack of UKCA-approved bodies and available capacity in current certification bodies, as well as product-testing facilities.

If any UK-made or imported products that need to show these essential features cannot display a UKCA mark by the end of 2021, this will leave manufacturers and gas engineers, clients and the public dealing with serious quality and contractual issues. In some product categories, 64 years’ worth of retesting will be required, according to some industry estimates.

For example, most radiators will not be able to be sold legally in the UK from 2022 without a new test certificate. Isaac Occhipinti, head of External Affairs at the Manufacturers Association of Radiators and Convectors (MARC), says: “There is only one test laboratory in the UK, which has a limited capacity for testing. Even with a heroic effort, they will only ever be able to test a very small percentage of radiators currently legally on sale in the UK.

“It will be impossible for all products to be tested by the 2022 deadline. The industry now faces the reality that the majority of radiators on sale in the UK will be without a ‘valid’ test certificate, in a few months’ time, and therefore unable to be sold legally.”

Organisations across the

Current rads could be banned by 2022, says MARC

construction and services industries want the government to continue to recognise the CE mark until at least the end of 2022.

During this time, products used in Great Britain should be allowed to bear either or both marks, says Actuate UK.

The new UKCA rules do not apply to Northern Ireland where the CE mark will continue.

NICEIC tightens entry and assessment criteria

NICEIC and ELECSA are changing their existing assessment processes and future enrolment criteria.

One of the most significant changes is in the new applicant process, from 1 September 2021, which will effectively close the short-course entry route for new applicants.

“The 2020 Electrotechnical Assessment Specification update is a significant step forward for the entire industry,” says John O’Neill, NICEIC and ELECSA’s director of Technical Excellence. “For many years now, there have been calls from contractors and industry to tighten entry criteria, and [this] announcement does just that.”

Existing NICEIC and ELECSA registrants will also see changes resulting from the EAS update. In line with more stringent requirements, assessors will need to see more detailed evidence in areas such as ongoing CPD, adequate supervision of employed persons and appropriate levels of insurance, depending on the work undertaken.

Full details at:

www.niceic.com/contractor/ essentials/eas

CO Research Trust: the new name for the Gas Safety Trust

The Gas Safety Trust is now known as The CO Research Trust, to provide a more accurate reflection of the work it carries out. Baroness Finlay has become the charity’s new chair of the Board of Trustees.

“We fight CO exposure through funding scientific research as we believe that this will make the greatest difference. The new name more accurately conveys the focus of our work,” says Baroness Finlay. ”The CO Research Trust is entering an exciting new phase, where the focus of attention is firmly upon understanding the mechanics of CO poisoning, thereby improving the diagnosis and treatment. I am confident that the Trust’s work will have a great impact and significantly contribute to our understanding and prevention of carbon monoxide exposure.”

Since the Trust was established in 2005, the UK’s gas industry has taken significant steps forward to prevent CO exposure, thanks in part to better regulation and improved technologies. However, the picture is less clear in other fuel sectors. The new name reflects the broader focus of CO concern, beyond gas safety, says the charity.

Intergas adds spares stockists

Intergas boiler spares are now available from hundreds of merchants across the UK. The manufacturer says it has addressed spares shortages and built a portfolio of stockists.

There’s now a dedicated web page, highlighting the nearest spares stockist as well as boiler stockists.

www.intergasheating.co.uk/ installer/support/merchantlocater

Train in battery storage with GTEC

Renewable energy training provider GTEC has created a new battery storage training course, offering renewables installers the chance to upskill to fit electrical energy storage systems (EESS).

GTEC says it is one of the first companies to provide training in this technology, which could make a substantial contribution to a low-carbon future.

Battery storage technology has greatly improved in recent years, leading to wider use in homes, and the course is designed to cater for this growing market. It provides experienced installers with an RQF Level 3 qualification in the Design, Installation and Commissioning of Electrical Energy Storage Systems, from LCL Awards.

It covers all the essential requirements for the installation of EESS, including identification of equipment, arrangements and operating modes, design, installation, initial verification and handover, in conjunction with the latest IET Code of Practice.

“The new training course is an ideal upskill for experienced installers who want to tap into this emerging market,” says the company’s Griff Thomas.

The course is recognised by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).