Illegal gas fitters are putting lives at risk

BOTCHED, illegal gas jobs are costing £100 million a year to put right, the Gas Safe Register has said.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Oct 2010, 23:21 BST
Updated 17th Oct 2010, 01:56 BST

The register, which replaced the Corgi registration scheme in April 2009, said illegal fitters were costing money and putting lives and homes at risk.

It claimed 250,000 illegal gas jobs were carried out every year, many by fitters recommended by family and friends but with no official qualifications.

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Phill Brewster, national investigations manager at the Gas Safe Register, said: "If you have a boiler fitted by a gas engineer who isn't registered to do the work, then you may end up paying to have it ripped out and start again which may cost you thousands of pounds. It may also put your life in danger."

Research carried out by the register found one in three people would trust a tradesman on recommendation alone. Brewster urged people to check fitters were registered to work legally and have the correct qualifications.