Risk news

Anyone wishing to carry out work on a boiler in the UK must be registered to do so, and for good reason as the appliances have the potential to leak dangerous gases if they are not fixed properly.

When registering, plumbers will be issued with a number which they should have no problem supplying you with and can be checked online to make sure they are fully trained.

It is important that the flue which removes the poisonous carbon monoxide gas is doing its job properly and removing the substance from the premises as it is odourless, colourless and almost undetectable.

Illegal plumbing is a criminal offence and can put people's lives at risk, so making sure the tradesman who comes to fix a boiler is legitimate is incredibly important.

An example of the consequences for unregistered plumbers is that of a man who has recently been jailed for six months after falsely claiming to be a legal tradesman and fixing boilers.

As well as carrying out work on boilers in domestic properties he attempted to fix a boiler in a local Indian restaurant.

When this work was checked by a registered plumber it was found to be so dangerous that the restaurant was unable to open its doors to the public for two days.

Having been served with a Prohibition Notice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the man continued to carry out work on boilers without being registered.

Edward Crick, an inspector for the HSE said: "When unqualified workers try to bypass the law in this way they are not only putting themselves at risk of prosecution, and potentially a large fine or a spell in prison - they are also putting their customers' lives at risk."

The man breached Regulation 3 (3) of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998, Regulation 3 (1) of the same regulations, and section 33 (1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

After the case, the judge presiding said: "The seriousness of these offences is absolutely clear. The degree of risk caused by the activities was extremely high."