Sometimes, landlords and others can feel like they have a lot of paperwork to deal with and wonder if all the bureaucracy is worth it. But when it comes to gas safe certificates, the answer is emphatically yes.
If a trained and Gas Safe registered engineer has installed an appliance or checked an existing one to ensure it is safe, you will receive the certificate that not only shows you are legally compliant, but signals the fact that you have had a competent expert make sure the appliance is safe and will not pose a danger to anyone living in the property.
Every so often, a stark reminder of the potential consequences of failing to make a home and its appliances gas safe can come in the form of a tragedy.
This might include an incident currently under investigation by police in Nottinghamshire, with one man being arrested after an explosion destroyed a terraced house, killing a resident.
The cause of the explosion in Worksop is still under investigation and, as there is a live police investigation and potential criminal charges involved, it may be some time before the exact details emerge.
Nonetheless, explosions of this kind are usually caused by a gas leak, and while the background to what happened in this instance is still being probed, what other cases have shown is that leaks from faulty appliances have commonly been the root cause of a calamity.
Quite simply, once enough gas has leaked, any kind of spark or lit flame can lead to ignition and a fire or full-on explosion, with devastating consequences for life and property.
For instance, in Edinburgh, work has just begun on demolishing homes damaged in a gas explosion that reduced one property to rubble in late 2023, killing one man and hospitalising two other people. Adjacent homes were damaged beyond repair.
An investigation into that incident found that the problem lay with a faulty gas installation in the home.
Explosions can be the most obvious and dramatic evidence of how important it is to ensure gas safety in the home. However, there is a second concern as failings in maintenance can mean carbon monoxide does not dissipate outside, but instead builds up in the home, potentially causing carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be fatal.
Even though companies and their staff working with gas appliances have to be Gas Safe registered by law – and engineers should have their card to show to householders to prove this – the sad reality is that sometimes work is carried out by people who are not accredited and sometimes lack the right skills.
This has led to many prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive. For example, last October, a man from Blackpool who installed gas appliances in several homes despite not being on the Gas Safe register was convicted of breaching both the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act and the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998.
Preston Crown Court heard that he had carried on doing such work despite being served with a prohibition notice due to not being on the register. He received a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
Such cases show there are cowboys out there, so make sure you only use Gas Safe registered professionals and keep it legal.
