Best To Be Gas Safe Than Sorry You Didn’t Check First For Plumbing Credentials!

On the 1st April 2009, Britain’s gas safety scheme known as Corgi was replaced by the Gas Safe Register. From that date onwards, by law, anyone who works on gas appliances, such as boilers, now needed to be on the Gas Safe Register.

Naturally, the fact that a Corgi was no more is something we canines are more likely to know than humans! But it is still of concern how Corgi continues to be mentioned whenever the issue of finding a properly trained and qualified plumber comes up in conversation. You may even spot a trade van with a Corgi sticker still attached to the side door.

Passionate about the job

Doing the job properly by a trained and qualified installer is something my master, Bernard feels passionate about. Just at the end of November he read about a gas explosion at a private residence in Manchester caused by damage to live electrical wires, which burned a hole in a gas pipe while a new boiler was being installed.

Apparently, the plumber had burnt the cables while using a blow torch to solder together gas pipes that ran alongside. Despite being badly charred, the cables were then wrapped in plastic tape instead of a proper repair made.

According to official figures, around 40 people are fatally injured each year from gas explosions and more than 25 people will die from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning due to badly installed or not properly maintained gas appliances. Even more people suffer health problems from CO exposure directly related to a gas appliance.

Deciding if the plumber is right as well as the price

Luckily for me, I can smell gas right across north and east London where Bernard spends most of his time installing boilers and taking care of customer’s central heating systems.

Humans may have bigger brains but can they smell a rat? The kind of rat I’m talking about is the type of installer that humans seem to not worry as much about checking up on their Gas Safe credentials as they are on securing a suspiciously low price.

Unfortunately, trying to decide over the phone if you have found a good plumber when they give the pricing for even small jobs may not be the answer. Most good plumbers will prefer to provide quotes only when they are actually front of the job to be done so their ‘fixed quote’ is certain to be 100 per cent exactly correct – and customers will have no nasty surprises later!

Check to ensure a plumber is fully licensed

Apart from guarantees, references, online reviews and obtaining different quotes ( for the same amount of work to be carried out), it’s always crucial to spend time checking to ensure a plumber is fully licensed and carries full insurance to protect you and your neighbour’s property in the event of a catastrophe. While asking about “long they have been in business for” may be reassuring, it’s not always the case that reputable trades-people last while rogue traders simply disappear!

I’m proud to be able to say that my master, Bernard is Gas Safe registered, a Worcester Bosch Group partner and gives a 5 year guarantee – and he replaced all his Corgi stickers, but sadly not with pictures of Moo!