gas safety check

[bookertoys]

i rent my house from a private landlord---recently he sent a plumber out to carry a gas safety check---what i want to know is what do they check for.This plumber looked at the flame on the boiler --jotted down the serial number --said their was a slight fault but knowing my landlord it would not be fixed and then asked if there was any other gas appliances --he looked at the cooker --jotted down the make and enquired why the pilot light did not work --i said it had not worked the last 5 years--he said no problem he will mark it down as passed and he left --time taken about 10 mins ---is this normal.I went on the corgi site and they say he must give me a copy of the check with is corgi number on it--the last copy me and my wife were given was 5 years ago.

[Hawkwalk]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg285.pdf

some good info here on your landlords responsibilities

[bookertoys]

thanks hawkwalk for the information---it looks like my landlord is neglecting is duty as a landlord.But now if he gives me the copy of the gas safety certificate and the corgi number checks out ---i still might have a worthless piece of paper if the test was not done correctly.I was just hoping a gas engineer out their could give a basic layout of the test or tell me if this one has being carried out correctly .

[gasman]

I do Landlords Gas Safety Certs all the time and the fist thing to do is visualy inspect the installation inc. all pipe work to make sure it is correct, Safe and meets regulations. Then you carry out a gas tightness test. This involves attaching equipment to the gas meter and checking for 'let by' at the main controll valve & leaks, working pressures and standing pressures in the whole installation, we also check that the bonding is attached ( Green and Yellow Earth wire ) to the pipe leading from the gas meter within 300mm from the meter. Then we move on to the appliances each one should be visualy inspected and also with the right equipment attached checked for correct working pressures, Leaks and saftey. We also check for any safety devices that are fitted (FFD,s & FSD's) to the appliances are all working corectly. Boilers and fires have to be checked for the safe evacuation of the products of combustion aswell the afore mentioned proceedures. Once satisfied that everything is in order we have to fill out a certificate in triplicate. One for the Tennant to keep, One for the Landlord and one for our own records incase of any come back. It will be dated and signed by the Corgi Gasman and either the tennant or the landlord ( whoever is there at the time of the inspection). This is the standard tests we carry out and by law in rented accomodation and has to be done every twelve months.
I hope this sheds some light on you're query and helps you out. Any more questions then feel free to ask :o)

[gasman]

Just Re-read you question and noticed you mention a boiler is there aswell so he should also have taken off the cover to the burner chamber and checked the flue for blockages and correct termination and if it is an open flued appliance then he should also do a flue flow test which involves using smoke generating pellets. The boilers safety devices have to checked they work ,as well as checking the boilers gas valve for let by and leaks using special equipment. If done correctly a Full house Landlords check will take 3/4 of an hour to around 1 1/2 hrs to complete sometimes longer if a gas fire is also involved.

[bookertoys]

thanks gasman -----the man that came out to our house did not check the gas meter and did not bring out any equipment with him .When he turner the boiler off he turned our microwave off instead and he asked me to do to turn it off in the end--and had the cheek to ask for a pen because he had forgot his.my wife says this man has been on the last 3 occasions---our last check before this was 16 months ago.We asked the landlord for the pink copy yesterday and he said he will try and get it out to us sometime .

thanks again gasman i think we need to have an independant inspection done for ourselves for the sake of our young kids.

[bookertoys]

when we moved into the property we asked the landlord if we could have an electric power shower fitted and we would pay the total cost , he said yes but when we got an electrician to come and fit it he said that the electrics were that old that he would not risk it.Since then we have listed 22 minor to major faults and nothing ever gets done about it.We pay our rent 2 weeks in advance and have never missed a single payment but my wife likes the area and she thinks if we rock the boat to much he will give us notice to vacate the property so i have my hands tied a bit but i said that we can't let the gas safety check go by.

[gasman]

Very wise bookertoys you're family safety is paramount. May I suggest when you receive the Gas Safty Certificate to look up the CORGI number on it and check that they are indeed registered and certified to do landlords checks. If they check out or indeed do not, I would ring up CORGI or E-mail them and voice you're concerns about a gasman not doing his job properly or illegal and tell them what you have told us on here about his working practices and that you think he has not done it properly. You could even arrange for a CORGI inspector to visit you're property with this guy who did you're tests to have an 'on site inspection' done of his work. This is quite normal as we have inspectors all the time asking to see our work to make sure we are doing our jobs correct and if our records do not match the results of the inspection results then it is obvious that the work has not been done and he has just filled in a certificate without performing the correct proceedures. He could even get struck off. Lets face it he deserves to be if he is putting peoples lives in danger over the sake of saving time to make more money by getting in a couple of more jobs a day done that if he did his job correctly he would not be able to do.
Any ways good luck and if you happen to be in the West Yorkshire area I would be happy to inspect and test you're home for you.

[bookertoys]

thanks gasman i use to live in west yorkshire (knottingley for 12 years)-----i have since found out that he is a long term friend of the landlords family and this bloke was well in sixties so maybe he was retired and just doing the checks for a bit extra money,Can you still do these check after you retire i wonder.We rang the landlord sunday for the pink copy and asked if he could look at the repairs --some now are dangerous and he said he would get back to us monday--now its wednesday and no call.

thanks again gasman ---i will post here with future developments.

[gasman]

Hi bookertoys,
Well there is no age limit to who can perform these checks but to be CORGI registered you need to be experianced in gas, Be performing gas work on a vey regular basis, Keep up to date with rules and regulations, Have a tracable records system, Have 5 million pounds public liability insurance and keep you're qualifications up to date so that means taking you're exams (practical and theory) on a regular basis. As you can imagine it is a very costly affair keeping a CORGI status and so i would not think an older semi retired bloke would spend all that time and money maintaining his CORGI registration just to do the odd job now and again for a mate do you ?
A good tip is to not let anyone do any gas work to you're home without first asking to see there Up to date CORGI card. As we all have to carry them and show them to customers and they have to be re-newed every 12 month so check that it is in date. If in doubt do not let them perform any gas work untill you are satisfied that they are qualified to do so by checking the CORGI register. Good luck.

[bookertoys]

To bring this thread to a close on my side anyway---we opted to go on a British gas cover plan and pay for it ourselves.The gas fitter did virually everything gasman said above and he took about a hour to do it---he said it was safe but would require �1000 of essential upgrades in the next few months.He checked the gas certficiate that i eventually got and said he had not performed half the checks he said he had done but he was corgi registered (we checked the internet corgi site).

so thanks gasman for all your help--we can sleep a bit sounder now .

[gasman]

So pleased you can now sleep at night knowing you and you're family are safe. Money well spent i would say. bye for now and stay safe.