is this legal? - urgent advice wanted on plumbing when renting, please

jamesb1239

clutton wrote: »

JamesB says - ""say 3am"" ""in the middle of the night,"" - we are talking about an issue during the day - today Sunday morning / afternoon - dont be a drama queen !!!

In the case of a middle of the night real flood i would expect a frantic call from my tenants as i am the one responsible for organising repairs - and yes they do have an emergency number when i am on holiday - they all know where the stop !!!! is anyway ....

middle of the night flood - chances of this happening ??? 1000's to one.....

well if your taking that attitude then i could say that its not my job to turn off the water and let the place flood, a pipe is just as likely to burst at 3am as any other time or do you think they come with little timers??? thank god i'm not a tenant of yours, personally i cant fault my landlord, well actually i can as no gas checks have ever been done in the 3 years of us living here nor were we given anything about one when we moved in but thats not a problem, the boiler is very rarely used and there are plenty of carbon monoxide alarms. 98% of the time the boiler is shut down, or just burning pilot if its likely to freeze (thermostat set to 5 degrees to kick in before freezing)

I do all repairs myself, or arrange for them to be done at my cost, unless it was something major that i thought would come under LL insurance, and for that i pay a good rent and am left completely undisturbed which is how i like it

clutton_2

""as no gas checks have ever been done in the 3 years"" - what an utterly foolish attitude - i am stunned that you have not have kicked up a fuss before now ...... I dont treat my tenants like that .....


carolt - did you call your landlord again ?

franklee

dfh wrote: »

We only have the OP's version of events.It seemed to start of with a leak and now the roof might have fallen in,mould is growing everywhere,water gushing in,door can't be closed and she and her daughter are ill with asthma.

Indeed we do but I can think of two reasons for a leak turning into a flood.

1. Boiler was stitched off when tenant was on holiday, and switching it back on may have made more pressure in the pipes as James explained above.

2. The plumber chappie (the one that fitted the central heating system originally and was sent first to do the boiler gas safety check till the tenant objected as he was non-Corgi (gas safe)) may well have disturbed the pipes when he was poking about yesterday. If the leak was say from a joint, disturbing the pipes could have made it worse.

As for the mould, the slow leak could have been going on for some time before the tenant went on holiday, but only been visible when she got back. So yes, time for mould to grow IMO.

Obviously I don't know if the above happened but I put forward possible explanations that would easily allow things to have happened like the OP said If you don't believe the OP then that's your prerogative, you could just skip on to the next thread.

Oh and turning up to do a gas safety check when not resisted is an offence that should be reported. I'd pass that information on, plus that the landlord employed him to to do this to the local authority tenancy relations officer. If the tenant had been out or not on the ball the check could well have been done by an unregistered engineer.

OP, if there is a flood in the ceiling be careful that any eclectics you are using are safe and I've no idea if it would be or not. Also don't poke the ceiling especially with a metal knitting needle or anything else for that matter unless you know there is no chance of getting an electric shock.

clutton_2

""check could well have been done by an unregistered engineer.""

but it wasn't ......


""As for the mould, the slow leak could have been going on for some time before the tenant went on holiday""

water leaks - even slow ones - show staining to wallpapered and painted walls, ceilings very quickly indeed


""for a leak turning into a flood"" - if we accept that this leak has turned into a flood why has carolt not come back and told us what her landlord has said he will today ?

Fire_Fox

There have been so many twists and backtracking in this story, I am struggling to believe there isn't a cry for attention here somewhere.

dfh

Fire_Fox wrote: »

There have been so many twists and backtracking in this story, I am struggling to believe there isn't a cry for attention here somewhere.

Yes-look at poor me-about to be flooded,roof will cave in and I have got asthma from mould and an unknown man has seen me in my pyjamas-and all due to my wicked landlord.

franklee

carolt wrote: »

Shoud add - the non-Corgi bloke who came round today was sent first to do the gas safety check - only when I complained was the Corgi reg bloke sent round.

clutton wrote: »

""check could well have been done by an unregistered engineer.""

but it wasn't ......

Only because the tenant had the foresight to check and refuse when the guy turned up to do the gas safety check. It still needs reporting as who else does this engineer visit and had the landlord used him for this before when he wasn't qualified? That he turned up willing to do the safety check isn't acceptable.

You can be as sceptical of the leak turning into a flood as you like but to shrug off an unregistered engineer turning up to do a gas safety check says a lot IMO. It needs reporting to the local council so the landlord can be stopped from choosing this guy (or anyone unqualified) to do gas safety again as well as filling in a report for the guy at gas safety to prevent him doing work he is not registered to do:
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

They write: "Anyone carrying out work on gas must be registered with Gas Safe Register. If not, they are breaking the law and putting you and your family at risk."

It really should not be up to tenants to check this, but judging by the attitudes here it seems they should when gas is involved.

Thankfully my landlord uses a reputable firm of registered engineers to do the gas safety.

dfh

So why does the OP not report it instead of coming on here and moaning about it.Why does she not chase the landlord for the gas certificate and mention it in the telephone conversations she has with him instead of crying about it on here.Does she think anyone on these boards will get hold of the landlord for her?

clutton_2

""Anyone carrying out work on gas must be registered with Gas Safe Register.""


but no one who was unqualified carried out any work on CarolT's boiler !!!

What are you going to tell GASSAFE - "he turned up but when we realised he was not qualified we sent him away"? where is the crime here ???? get a grip

we only have Carolt's side of this tale - and as we know from this, and other, threads, she is prone to exaggeration and a bit of hysteria now and again

Only registered gas engineers own the required paperwork to complete for the safety check, each Certificate is numbered and only Registered guys are allow to buy these certificates - there is stringent security around getting hold of them - so - no one can get them who is not a qualified gas engineer.

""Thankfully my landlord uses a reputable firm of registered engineers to do the gas safety.""

Franklee you are very fortunate - there are tens of thousands of registered and qualified gas engineers - and - as in any business - some will cut corners. i went through 4 different guys before settling on my current chap, who i would describe as much more than reputable. I have come across British Gas engineers who cut so many corners it was unbelievable, and i have come across a few really excellent engineers.

Just because they are registered does not mean they are all as diligent as they should be...

However the exams needed to qualify are getting more stringent, so lets hope these shoddy ways become a thing of the past.



i tried to complain about 2 of the others to CORGI - they didn't give a stuff.... lets see if GASSAFE turn out to be any better ......

franklee

clutton wrote: »

""Anyone carrying out work on gas must be registered with Gas Safe Register.""


but no one who was unqualified carried out any work on CarolT's boiler !!!

What are you going to tell GASSAFE - "he turned up but when we realised he was not qualified we sent him away"? where is the crime here ???? get a grip

we only have Carolt's side of this tale - and as we know from this, and other, threads, she is prone to exaggeration and a bit of hysteria now and again

Only registered gas engineers own the required paperwork to complete for the safety check, each Certificate is numbered and only Registered guys are allow to buy these certificates - there is stringent security around getting hold of them - so - no one can get them who is not a qualified gas engineer.

""Thankfully my landlord uses a reputable firm of registered engineers to do the gas safety.""

Franklee you are very fortunate - there are tens of thousands of registered and qualified gas engineers - and - as in any business - some will cut corners. i went through 4 different guys before settling on my current chap, who i would describe as much more than reputable. I have come across British Gas engineers who cut so many corners it was unbelievable, and i have come across a few really excellent engineers.

Just because they are registered does not mean they are all as diligent as they should be...

However the exams needed to qualify are getting more stringent, so lets hope these shoddy ways become a thing of the past.



i tried to complain about 2 of the others to CORGI - they didn't give a stuff.... lets see if GASSAFE turn out to be any better ......

Yes, As he turned up specifically to do a gas safety inspection I'd report what happened regardless that he was turned away by the tenant. Let gas safe work out the details of what can be done to prevent this guy working on gas for someone else less clued up or a tenant who was out so could not check at the time. That he turned up willing to do the work means he could well have gone ahead if there wasn't someone clued up enough on hand to put a stop to it. After all, if it happened to me, I'm hardly going to let him do any gas work just to catch him out am I? Report it to gas safe and let them deal with it. I doubt his plan was to turn up and then change his mind for himself and I doubt it'd be the first time they've come across an engineer who can't show the correct card when he arrives at a property and so was turned away so I'd expect they've thought out how to deal with it.

Same with the landlord for the council, let them deal with a landlord willing to engage an unregistered engineer for gas work. Even if a quiet word stops it happening again for the next tenant, or the landlord's other tenants makes it worth reporting. Or is it the case of turn a blind eye?

If people who find these things don't report them then the system doesn't get cleaned up. If they ignore the report (and I doubt they will as this is more clear cut than complaints about a registered engineer) then at least the tenant has done the right thing!

As for the last bit, perhaps being registered isn't always sufficient protection but it's a darn sight better than nothing. I'd rather trust that than someone who knowingly breaks the law by doing gas work when they are not registered.