Landlord prosecuted after illegally fitting gas boiler
08 Sep 2010
A landlord who was found to have been putting his tenants' lives in
danger by illegally fitting a gas boiler has been prosecuted by the
Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Richard Elliot from Exeter had been renting out his flat in Old
Tiverton Road to a grandmother when he decided to put a new boiler
in.
However, instead of getting a properly-qualified engineer out to do
it, he attempted the installation himself.
Due to his lack of knowledge about heating systems, Mr Elliott did
not safely isolate and cap the live gas pipe and left the job only
partially completed.
It was only when an officer from Exeter City Council happened to
visit the flat in March this year that he raised concerns about the
boiler's safety.
A subsequent HSE investigation saw Mr Elliot prosecuted and fined a
total of GBP 4,000 plus GBP 1,787 costs.
"The pipework left in the flat was extremely dangerous and could
have led to a major gas explosion if one of the children [the
tenant's grandchildren] had simply twisted the valve to let the gas
escape," said HSE inspector Simon Jones.
He warned landlords that working with gas supplies must only be
carried out by members of the Gas Safe Register.
Earlier in 2010, Mohammed Ikram - a landlord from Sheffield - was
also prosecuted under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use)
Regulations 1998 after repeatedly failing to get his gas fire,
boiler and flues checked and certified, despite renting his
properly out to tenants.
