Risk, Health and Safety Information

Fitter fined for illegal and unsafe gas work

A heating installer has been fined for illegal and unsafe gas work in a London home.

Abhishev Yadav, aged 28, of Greenwich, installed a boiler at a property on Penywern Road, Earls Court, that was later classed as "at risk" because the flue was not properly sealed or secured.

He carried out the work in March 2011 on behalf of his firm Ability Heating while falsely claiming to be Gas Safe registered. It is a legal requirement that anyone working with gas is recognised by Gas Safe.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that Gas Safe reported the unsafe installation to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which uncovered evidence of false accreditation designed to fool unsuspecting customers.

Mr Yadav provided customers with invoices and business cards featuring a Gas Safe logo, and advertised on a web page that he carried out work on gas boilers.

HSE established that at the time of the Penywern Road installation, he was gathering a portfolio of completed gas work in the hope of gaining an Accredited Certification Scheme qualification.

Any work he did should have been on behalf of a Gas Safe registered business and directly supervised by a Gas Safe registered engineer, not working independently on his own.

Magistrates were told that Mr Yadav did not complete his competence training and assessment until 25 May 2011, and that Ability Heating wasn't registered as a gas business until 9 August 2011.

Abhishev Yadav, of Shooters Hill Road, Greenwich, SE3, was fined a total of £7,500, and ordered to pay £2,500 in costs plus a £120 victim surcharge for two separate breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Helen Donnelly said:

"Mr Yadav carried out the boiler installation knowing full well that he wasn't legally qualified to do so.

"He was well aware of the need to be Gas Safe registered and chose to operate under false pretences, using fake marketing materials and paperwork. In doing so, he put the life of a customer at risk because his work was sub-standard.
"Gas work should only ever be undertaken by someone qualified and competent to do so. That means they need to be current Gas Safe members with up to date competencies."