Man fined £8k for illegally fitting gas boilers

A man has been fined £8,000 after he potentially put people at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning by installing a gas boiler while unregistered.

Robert Fordham pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998 after he was prosecuted following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which led to a trial being heard at London Magistrates Court.

It was found during the investigation that Mr Fordham, of the small Hertfordshire market town Tring, had both carried out gas work while not being registered and also pretending that he was licensed to do so.

In January 2006, Mr Fordham and a colleague replaced a gas boiler at the Castle Climbing Centre in Hackney and then sent an invoice to the organisation detailing the fact that he was officially registered.

Some eight months later, he repeated this falsehood after installing a boiler at a home in Mottingham.

Darren Aldis, inspector for HSE, remarked: "People carrying out work without being registered may be putting lives at risk and HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those like Mr Fordham who break the law."

Posted by Craig Williams 

31/08/2010 16:16