Diy Gas Comment

[gasinstaller]

there is no way of determaning if a diyer is competent so it is kind off up to you if you think you can do it or not. But you still have to install in accordance with the installation and use act.

It is not illegal for your mate to fit your gas fire,cooker,boiler etc but it must be fitted in accordance with the manufacturers instructions which supperseed the installation and use act.

But if he makes a mess of it he will bwe roasted many times over. oh and most manufacturers will not cover warranty repairs if a certificate for the gas safe register or an older one from corgi has not been issued or the benchmark book has not been filled in

 

[D_Hailsham]

But this "advice" does not agree with the attitude adopted by HSE.

If you read Rhondda Landlord Prosecuted, you will see that, even though the landlord was working on his own boiler, he was fined for breaking Regulation 3(1), which says that you have to be "competent".

He was also found guilty of breaching Regulation 36(4). But this was only because he was a landlord and the Regulations lay down specific requirements that landlords use HSE approved installers.

 

[bengasman]

Only working on the boiler in the house you live in is considered diy. Working on a boiler in a place that is destined to for letting, is considered business.
Nobody gives a hoot if you install your own boiler in your own home, as long as nothing goes wrong.
If something goes wrong, you will of course get done and make you wish you had never done the stupid thing.
Like getting in the car after 4 or 5 pints, people think: I will be ok. Truth is: most are, and a only a few regret it. But those few do so bitterly.

 

[AlanE]

It is not illegal for your mate to fit your gas fire,cooker,boiler etc but it must be fitted in accordance with the manufacturers instructions which supperseed the installation and use act.

Now is that a personal opinion or a statement of law?

 

[bengasman]

That is the law. Presupposing that he is competent of course.
Also presupposing that he is not paid at all, neither in kind, nor in cash, NOR expecting to be paid in any way.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Only working on the boiler in the house you live in is considered diy. Working on a boiler in a place that is destined for letting, is considered business.

That's just your interpretation of the law. The landlord's business is letting property, not gas work.

In any case the landlord was found guilty of breaking the general restriction which says: No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so. There is nothing in that about diy work or employment etc.

Corgi Technical Bulletin 214 Gas Work says: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) define competence as a combination of both training and experience. Therefore, anyone who does work on a gas fitting (this includes appliances) or gas storage vessel must be competent to do so, whether or not they are required to be a CORGI member

The landlord was found guilty because, legally, he was not competent, i.e he did not have the necessary training and experience. As far as the HSE and the courts are concerned, the only way anyone can prove they have the necessary training and experience is by being a CORGI (Gassafe) member.

Nobody gives a hoot if you install your own boiler in your own home, as long as nothing goes wrong. If something goes wrong, you will of course get done

But you can't get done for doing something which is not illegal! So are you now saying that diy gas work is illegal?

 

[bengasman]

...But you can't get done for doing something which is not illegal! So are you now saying that diy gas work is illegal?

DIY gas work is not illegal in and of itself, like drinking and driving that is sometimes illegal and sometimes not.
What is or is not the only way to prove you are competent, is often irrelevant as we live in a free democracy; you don't have to prove you are innocent.
What corgi think or thought bears little weight either, they were a paper tiger with no prosecuting or legislative powers, dito for crapita.

Becoming registered does not prove competence, this is done by passing the ACS assessment. Corgi/RGS are merely registers. The most they do is assessing that you can indeed do what it says on paper, to avoid people sitting the assessment for somebody who looks like them.

Landlords as bushiness owners, are required to have work done by registered installers, not just by competent installers. A landlord with every possible ACS module under the sun in his name, can still not legally install a plug-in cooker without engaging a RGI.

 

[gasinstaller]

The land lord was ineviatbly doing it for financal gain, ie he was expecting a rent for the property. You do not have to prove your self competant.
As long as you believe you are competant and adopt safe working practices hse will not roast you. If you charge money or expect payment of some kind.. then you are breaking the law. as you are pretending to be a class of person which you are not..

I know i was a college lecturer and ex scot gas(BG) trainer.

It is when it all goes wrong you are f###ed.
Ther is no way for a diy to prove he is competant. as there is no way he would even get near the ACS course. It says so in the installation and use act

 

[shambolic]

 

[bengasman]

Besides all the above, it would be too embarrassing to prosecute diy-ers, whilst countless robbers, murderers and rapists roam the streets due to lack of police/court/prison resources.

I really do think it is like drink driving, if you drive like everybody else, there is an extremely small chance you get done if you are behind the wheel with half a dozen pints in you.
Similarly, if things go wrong, you really are deep in it as you will not only be (successfully) prosecuted, the insurance does not have to pay out either in many if not all cases.
"Gaining" a few hundred quid by risking several hundred thousand, not to mention health or life, is rather daft as far as I am concerned.
Even more so when adding that more than half the boilers I replace are dead before their time due to amateurish work that ruined them beyond economic repair.

 

[bengasman]

...as you are pretending to be a class of person which you are not..

Always knew I was a class act.