Legal News

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted an unregistered gas fitter, who carried out work illegally on a gas fired central heating system, leaving it in a dangerous state.

Somerset plumber Ian Gardiner, 46, from Copse Lane in Ilton – trading as Ian Gardiner Plumbing & Heating Services – falsely claimed to be Gas Safe registered.

Gardiner provided a householder in Yeovil with a quote to install a gas-fired central heating system on headed paper with a Gas Safe Register logo.

On completion of the installation, he also provided further paperwork – including a gas boiler system commissioning checklist, which included a Gas Safe Register number.

A Regional Investigations Officer for Gas Safe inspected the house in October 2013 and identified nine defects in the way the central heating system had been installed – three of which constituted a danger to life or property.

Yeovil Magistrates heard that Gardiner’s faulty gas installation involved serious and potentially life threatening errors:

• the chimney flue assembly had not been sealed to the structure of the building following the installation – and was not sealed on either the internal or external walls of the property


• the telescopic chimney flue assembly on the boiler was not fixed at the required length – and the telescopic joint within the cavity wall was not sealed with aluminium tape, in line with the manufacturer’s installation instructions


• the flue had not been installed to satisfy the appliance manufacturer’s instructions.




On Tuesday, 1 July, Gardiner pleaded guilty at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court to five breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The court heard than an HSE inspection had revealed that his Gas Safe registration had expired on the 18 May, 2010 – and that the Gas Safe Register number he had provided belonged to an unconnected engineer, who had not given permission for his registration number to be used and had no knowledge of the installation.

Gardiner was fined £2,100 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs and £125 in compensation.

After the hearing, HSE Inspector Mehtaab Hamid said:

“Ian Gardiner was Gas Safe registered several years ago, but had failed to renew his qualifications or membership.

“Standards in gas work do change and it is important for gas engineers to keep up to date.

“The work he carried out put anyone in this property at potentially serious risk.
Incorrectly fitted gas appliances can be highly dangerous and can lead to loss of life.

“Gas Safe Register exists to protect the public from people like Mr Gardiner who are prepared to work illegally, despite not being qualified and competent.”



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