DIY GAS disasters waiting to happen.

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by Easy Life, Mar 19, 2004.

  1. dp

    dp Guest

    Regardless of how you feel about registration, both you and registered gas installer are bound by HSE directive. If he left a gas leak, why did you not report him to HSE? Furthermore, did you ask him for visual of his CORGI card. Anyone can pretend to be CORGI registered.

    You, when carrying out gas work, do not need PL insurance, training, CORGI fees or time to get to site to name a few reasons why installer's price is not attractive

    Attended a boiler breakdown on Saturday. Repaired boiler and was packing up when was asked if I could look at the gas fire as well (yes I am registered to work on fires as well). Gas fire has a gas leak and POC were spilling into the room giving the homeowner a sore head. It was a DIY job.
     
  2. GasCall.com

    GasCall.com New Member

    Ok - so you know that you are paying for the CORGI registered gas engineer to call and move your gas pipework only 6 feet ( approx ) - you may quibble at the cost of £120 or so charges - but you WILL & SHOULD BE getting a knowlageable fitter doing the work ( however long it takes ) knowing that you and yours are in a gas safe environment, and that any appliance that has been worked on is safe to use.

    Every time a CORGI registered gas engineer comes to any job he is not only charging for his time & experience - but also the fact that he is guaranteeing his work.

    All registered gas engineers have to go through a vigorous re-training scheme every 5 years, which is a rather costly experience. It is done so that YOU the consumer is safe when it comes to gas and gas installations.

    Don't DIY - use a professional. I know that this is easy to say, but a life is too precious to play around with - and generally it's DIY'ers who put their own families at risk!
     
  3. Mud

    Mud New Member

    Jeeze what a thread - I haven't got the time to read through it all but from what I have read the gist of is is:

    1. The law allows for DIY gas installation - yes it does BUT CORGI view the word 'competance' as meaning suitably qualified so if you are not qualified (and not CORGI registered) you can still do your own (non charged for) work within your OWN home without prosecution but you have NO insurance, warranty or legal safeguard whatsoever!

    2. Price does dictate much of the DIY market, I understand that and the new requirement for notification in April will only serve to widen this gap.

    3. By employing a CORGI installer and getting a detailed invoice from said 'qualified and registered' person - no other certification is needed for proposed house sale documentation. All this extra expense and paperwork from CORGI will do nothing but burden the industry & increase costs to the cusomer. CORGI are not going to come and inspect each installation so how can they certify the job?

    4. I, as a registered CORGI company, have no wish to see the publics freedom to purchase impinged in any way but I would like to see either point of sale notification (then EVERY appliance would be notified not just the ones by RGI's) or transportation of Gas appliances & certain fittings limited to CORGI registered personnel simply to cut out the non- registered installers (not DIY) who make a living by gas work. I don't see why the rest of us have to jump through so many expensive hoops in order to do our job correctly, be insured, be accountable etc when the current system makes it so easly for these rogues to operate.

    I personally don't like to see DIY jobs done, we will not commission boilers fitted by others since we are not prepared to take responsibility for someone elses work, or give much gas advice on DIY forums like this but until the law is changed completely it is still the DIYers choice to either have it done by a professional or cut costs, take your chances and DIY.
     
  4. The Dormouse

    The Dormouse New Member

    I hope you're right GasCall.com, but there's no evidence that 'generally it's DIY'ers who put their own families at risk!' & this long topic has failed to produce anything but horror stories from both sides. If you know better, please help gas customers like myself to decide, by providing facts & figures.
     
  5. Dan The CORGI Man

    Dan The CORGI Man New Member

    Flaming heck - why didn't someone continue this on a new thread?

    Oh well.

    DIY and gas is a disaster waiting to happen. I have said it before, and I'll say it again, DIY'ers who do their own gas work are both arrogant and irresponsible on several fronts.


    The DIY people on this thread have failed to demonstrate anything by using examples of employing poor installers. If they had half the sense they claim to have then they would have used the channels in place to get them reported and processed in the way set out by the HSE.

    I admit that some DIY'ers are pretty good at certain aspects of pipe work, but they do not appreciate the nuances that those of us who keep up to date and registered know and understand.

    Any RGI who commissions a gas appliance fitted by a non RGI is asking for trouble as they are accepting liability for the whole installation.


    I have other points to make but I feel that some people here are unable to process too much in one go; but if someone must continue this thread, please do so under a different subject heading to save some of us time. Remember that our time costs money and us professionals participate on these forums to help people - no matter how foolish.
     
  6. The Dormouse

    The Dormouse New Member

    Still no evidence of whether Corgi installations are safer than DIY Dan The CORGI Man, just opinions & the usual diversions into insurance, guarantees etc.

    I've several times tried to open new more relevant topics, but this one plods on regardless.
    'Corgi disasters waiting to happen' got me into more trouble among many replies than if I had caused the fault myself. If you think it would help to divert some replies to a new topic, why not start one yourself & see if you can do better.

    As a customer, my primary concern is not to have my home blown up by anyone. Whether they are Corgi registered, insured, guaranteed etc. or not is a secondary consideration.

    A nice funeral is not a satisfactory compensation, so I need to know for certain who is least likely to blow me up, & a list of benefits to my relatives after the event is irrelevant.

    The trouble is that to most of the gas trade in particular, the customer is always wrong.
     
  7. Damocles

    Damocles New Member

    reality is, house prices have very little to do with the fine points of how old your gas or electrics are. Much more to do with whether there are six other houses for sale in the same street, or none.
     
  8. boris the blade

    boris the blade New Member

    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  9. Dewy

    Dewy New Member

    Good God.
    Is this one still going?
    It started in March.
     
  10. navplum

    navplum New Member

    and the doormouse is still talking ****!
     
  11. plumface

    plumface New Member

    really navplum! (can it go to 700?)
     
  12. Easy Life

    Easy Life Member

    Nice to see my Thread is still going strong.

    Jacen
     
  13. plumface

    plumface New Member

    i bet 8 months and 600 posts ago you could not envisage the response?
     
  14. Easy Life

    Easy Life Member

    Plumface

    no i didnt

    i only started this because i had been on a job where i was working on site and the site manager asked me if i could do them a favour, one of the tenents had connected / installed (i.e. put the gas hose on the cooker) their own Gas Cooker in a in the new kitchen & Gas pipe work etc. that had just been done for them.

    The site manager didnt want anycome back to him if the tenant had done anything wrong then said that it was done by the company and not himself, as it turned out, he had done it wrong and the cooker was leaking gas where it was connected to the hose and he had also damaged the wall plate for the hose, which was also leaking Gas.

    I resolved the problem by classing it as ID and turning off his Gas until the next day when corrected his incorrect installation.

    Jacen
     
  15. Wiseman

    Wiseman New Member

    Hi
    Some of the incidents mentioned could be the fault of suppl;iers since I have seen tickets labled - No instructions are supplied with this product since it is a legal requirement to have it fitted by a CORGIE registered fitter. This is total rubbish - 1 it is not illegal to do it your self - only if you are in business - BUT you must do it righ or else you will get clobbered. It is the duty and responsibility of manufactureres to give instructions. The final analysis of CORGIE on this is that ALL tradesmen etc must fit the appliance as per the manufactures instructions and these override anything the regulations may quote. Never fit anything unless you have the manual. So what is the point in all this training and assessment?
     
  16. Wiseman

    Wiseman New Member

    Hi RP
    I have read some of your comments which are bread by the current administration of money hungry zealots. You are among its victims. When I was doing my degree work in transort engineering we were told the scheme similar to what is going on now in the Plumbing and electrical trades
    would set us apart - the forerunner of the eventual CPC. Well its a long sorry story to get bogged down in. But its like this when you get a young wipper snpper come along and tel ya he is not happy with your work since lots of the work is a matter of opinion it hurts. You will get it one day when they visit some of your work cos you are not perfect - no such thing. Like me you will be hurt cos you are a genuine professional like me and you will give it in just as I did. Lack of skilled people eh.
     
  17. Wiseman

    Wiseman New Member

    Hi RP
    I was chatting with a plumber mate of mine -CORGI Registered - he just had his 5 year test. You can imagine his feelings after 30 some years in the business when he failed his test on some trumped up failure points. Said if he did not get 100% it was curtains to any work untill he retrained ! luckily he only got 3 questions wrong and was allowed to resit which he passed. One silly question was what is the minimum depth of fire resistant material was for a hearth - he hesitated and remembered it was 50mm
    cos it was 15mm now he failed. Though he was on the right side it was a failure, and so on.
     
  18. Easy Life

    Easy Life Member

    whats the chance of this getting to 700 by Xmas

    Merry Christmas to everyone who has taken part in this thread and on every other thread.

    Some very interesting & sometimes funny reading Many Thanks

    Jacen
     
  19. clevadick

    clevadick New Member

    nah, bet it wont reach 700 that quickly
     
  20. Easy Life

    Easy Life Member

    only 6 posts aday to get it to 700

    but i see what you mean

    maybe by the end of the year

    Jacen
     

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