illegal work

[hammers4spanner]

Long story short my bird has been on Facebook today nosing around as they do and she found two lads which appears to be installing boilers without any GSR.Full on shouting down anyone that reckons you need a gas safe engineer , they say fit it yourself and get someone to sign off.

Now one lad has back tracked and claims to be GSR but however i can't find no info on him after a lil interest nose.

Been here with gas safe before and they done nothing without enough info so how you go about this as me bird wants to grass them up so to speak .

 

[Rickster123]

I wouldn't bother. Pour yourself a beer and switch off facepoke. Load of old balls on there anyway.

 

[Millsy 82]

If they have said on there that they are doing installs with out gsr then take a screen shot and email it over to gas safe.

Don't expect it to come to anything though, they will probably just get a letter but it may make them think twice about it.

 

[Rickster123]

Gas safe won't give two shiney turds about it. That's the sad truth. Have you got a photo of the guy with a test nipple in one hand and a lit match in the other? No? Sorry, computer says no..

 

[hammers4spanner]

Said that to my buRd that it's pointless read through the thread on her page and clearly upto no good . Like my gf said if they don't show interest then why are you paying to be on it.

 

[Rickster123]

Said that to my buRd that it's pointless read through the thread on her page and clearly upto no good . Like my gf said if they don't show interest then why are you paying to be on it.

The same reason we all go to work and earn the food on our tables rather than sit on our arses watching Jeremy Kyle and smoking 40 Richmond a day. Morals, decency and a tad of stupidity.

 

[bright spark]

Same over in Ireland, very few get prosecuted. I think ye have to have an install, a witness, a set of hens teeth, rocking horse shxxt and other things like that to get a case to stick.
There a while ago an illegal installer in Ireland was done, went to court and was fined €500.
What a joke

 

[bert large]

If Gas Safe / HSE tried really hard to alleviate the illegal installers & achieved a good degree of success there would little need for many of their employees.

 

[Ray Stafford]

The same reason we all go to work and earn the food on our tables rather than sit on our arses watching Jeremy Kyle and smoking 40 Richmond a day. Morals, decency and a tad of stupidity.

Quote of the year.

There is no need for any more postings until 2016. Goodnight.

 

[hammers4spanner]

If Gas Safe / HSE tried really hard to alleviate the illegal installers & achieved a good degree of success there would little need for many of their employees.

Very true

Last i phoned them they literally couldn't be bothered .And i read the thread yesterday and two guys flaunting openly that GSR is a joke .
Think her indoors is going to phone anyway as like she says why should they cream so much out of the legal ones and badger us with endless updates and yet thousands more fit illegally with literally no extra hassle.

 

[gasmanrob]

Who pulled up something in another thread last week a paragraph from the gas regs where it states it is illegal for a gsr to sign off an instal knowing it had been done by a non GSR. Just add that quote to the thread and end it there

 

[Dotty]

Thing is, all the while we do nothing, nothing will definitely happen.

Quod erat demonstratum.

 

[bert large]

I understand what your'e saying Croppie but when I reported illegal & dangerous work to Gas Safe I was asked to provide a written report on the defects as I saw them & allow at least half a day (unpaid) to go through it all on site with the inspector. They had all the details of the installer as he had been struck off previously so why needed to be further involved I don't know.
I told Gas Safe I wouldn't be wasting half a day on their dirty work so it all went no further. My conclusion was that they aren't really interested in tackling the problem.

 

[Rickster123]

We need the official word from gas safes very own forum legend Kirkgas.

 

[bright spark]

What if you had to supply ID for every boiler bought and the boiler serial number was twinned with your ID and a record kept. Well that would stop illegal boiler fits. I think 1/3 of boilers bought are never given a cert. therefore done illegal.
I know that wouldn't tackle repairs and other work but it's a start.

Another way would b for the Gov to do a home improvement grant where say a 200 grant be given once receipt and installation cert given. That'd knock stuffing out of illegal cash boys. Wouldn't cost much as more work would b done through d books resulting in more tax collected

 

[Riley]

This has come up several times. Any new appliance cannot be commissioned without a chip and pin type gas safe card being slotted into it. That means that anyone can buy and sell the product freely but it physically can only be installed by a gsr. One of Rays ideas I think

 

[Dotty]

With the same idea required to reset the boiler as soon as the case comes off.

 

[Riley]

Unfortunately it's the manufacturers that would need to implement the technology and they wont

 

[Dotty]

Unfortunately it's the manufacturers that would need to implement the technology and they wont

"It'll be too difficult to implement!" They'll cry.

My arse!

Supermarkets have managed it for years!

 

[Millsy 82]

We need the official word from gas safes very own forum legend Kirkgas.

He's probably had his mind twisted so all he can see now is grey areas. Lol.

A bit like me when I look in a mirror.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Unfortunately it's the manufacturers that would need to implement the technology and they wont

Actually, I think they would, so long as it was mandatory on all manufacturers. If the cost is imposed on their competitors as well, then no-one is at a disadvantage.

One of their largest costs is warranty call outs to boilers that have been fitted by muppets, or fannied with by the customer. The chip and pin card system would let them off the hook. No card? No warranty.

 

[Scott_D]

Any links to the facebook stuff so we can have a look?

 

[Riley]

Actually, I think they would, so long as it was mandatory on all manufacturers. If the cost is imposed on their competitors as well, then no-one is at a disadvantage.

One of their largest costs is warranty call outs to boilers that have been fitted by muppets, or fannied with by the customer. The chip and pin card system would let them off the hook. No card? No warranty.

Couldn't you throw your oh so knowledgeable weight around Ray. :wink: there just doesn't seem to be anybody championing our cause. It would seem that the only people likely to not think this is a good idea is Gas Safe

 

[Ray Stafford]

Couldn't you throw your oh so knowledgeable weight around Ray. :wink: there just doesn't seem to be anybody championing our cause. It would seem that the only people likely to not think this is a good idea is Gas Safe

I don't think I have much weight to throw around Matt. We might just scrape to a measely 2% of the UK market this year, hardly enough to count as a mover and shaker.

 

[JCSPLUMBING]

It happens everywhere here. I got a mate who's a plumber too but not gas safe. Working for a large firm. Fits boilers all the time, gas and all. The company just signs it off for him. It's on site too. They don't care mate.

 

[Riley]

Where the systems all wrong though and gas safe come up with no practical answers. I think we'd all get behind a body who acted beneficially to the industry

 

[hammers4spanner]

The whole industry needs a shake up imho as it stands ,its a shambolic mess and reality gas safe register are just fleecing us for a monthly payment scheme.

All bark and no bite

 

[hammers4spanner]

I don't think I have much weight to throw around Matt. We might just scrape to a measely 2% of the UK market this year, hardly enough to count as a mover and shaker.

However i would imagine the UKPF would have a good sway to gas safe to push more investigations .

 

[JCSPLUMBING]

Trouble is that if its fitted correctly and to standards what can they do? It's only when it's bodged and dangerous that they take action. A lot of blokes just don't bother renewing with gas safe and carry on regardless. There work is still to spec.
I agree with you though and would be angry too if I paid all that money to be gas safe.

 

[kirkgas]

Bert large can you explain how it would work if Gas Safe worked harder to get rid of illegals that some of them would lose their job? They don't deal with illegals that's HSE's department,

 

[kirkgas]

How much does it cost per day to be Gas safe Registered?

 

[Rickster123]

More than it should..

 

[gasmanrob]

This thread has been done before with the same responses from the same people. Nothing happens, nothing will ever happen.

Call it corgi, gas safe, g20 elite or eggy smell prevention squad result will always be the same.

we think rightly or wrongly, that as we pay them a registration fee and are policed by them so to speak that they'd have the ability to crack down and pursue illegals.

They see them selves as a non government body not responsible for prosecution of said illegals.


Maybe we should report them not for working unqualified but instead report them for non payment of the registration fee.

See kids it's all in the wording

 

[Riley]

I hate the fact that it causes so many arguments. Generally speaking we are all fairly well rounded adults, some with vast experience in the sector. It may or may not be gas safes responsibility, surely by the amount of people saying the same thing over and over this shows there is a problem. I would love for GS to read through some of these threads and to give a little feedback. Not expecting them to fix Rome in a day but I think the general consensus is that either their remit needs to change or they need to start doing the job they are tasked with properly. I'm not trying to be inflammatory but the fact that people now don't bother reporting illegals shows that the system is broken. For those people to risk illegal gas work because one time in 1000 they may possibly get a fine and a slap on the wrist is no deterrant. They know that in the large majority of cases their work will go unchecked as the public do not have the education on the matter. It still entertains me that after all this time since GS took over people still ask am I Corgi??? Surely this shows that GS don't have the presence that perhaps they should. I get really bored of being undercut by illegals because they don't have the overheads that I do and can afford to work for so much less. Likewise I hate the fact that these people are chucking in 2 sometimes 3 boilers in a day, any old way they choose and they get away with it because the customer doesn't know that what they are doing is wrong or unsafe. It does make you feel like doing the illegal route yourself as the risk to you is so low, however I think I am too decent a person to put my reputation and my customers lives at risk. I'm sure Gas Safe used to have a couple of people on here. It'd be nice to hear that they do consider our concerns as genuine and that it's not just a bunch of engineers venting. Problem is I believe only the figure head company, I believe, can make any change here. They have to lead the way and be proactive rather than the constant reactive nature which is often too late after a dodgy install has been carried out and the rogue trader has already legged it with the money never to be seen again.

 

[Riley]

And breath!!!