Electrician finished off fitting gas boiler

A Devon electrician has been given a suspended jail sentence after he finished fitting a gas boiler when the installation had been left incomplete.

Exeter Magistrates’ Court heard that Gareth Symons, of Gareth C Symons Electrical Services, quoted for the refurbishment of a property in Exmouth, which included gas work. Mr Symons did employ a registered gas engineer, who fitted a boiler and fittings in August 2016 but they did not complete the installation.

After the client complained about the reliability of the gas engineer, Mr Symons went to the property and completed the work to ensure the boiler was working.

However, the client smelled gas and contacted Wales & West Utilities, which found faults and told her not to use the boiler. The client tried to contact Mr Symons to come back to correct the faults, but she did not receive a response. A Gas Safe Register inspector checked the work, found numerous defects on the installation and issued a Warning Notice.

The subsequent HSE investigation found that Mr Symons had never been Gas Safe registered and was not competent to carry out gas work.

Gareth Symons of Madison Close, Stoke Canon, Exeter, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 3(3) and 33(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations as amended 1998. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, which was suspended, and ordered to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs of £7,979.90.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Paul Mannell said: “Mr Symons undertook gas work but was not and never has been Gas Safe registered. Furthermore, immediately following completion of the installation, he failed to test the connection to the installation pipework to verify that it was gas tight, and to examine the appliance in accordance with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations as amended 1998.”