Heating and Ventilating

An illegal gas fitter has been jailed for a second time for carrying out gas work after ignoring a prohibition notice issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Ken Parry admitted carrying out gas work and not being Gas Safe registered. The man had illegally removed a central heating boiler and installed a new combination boiler at a home in Pontwillym, Brecon in 2008, Brecon Magistrates Court heard.

Following a HSE investigation, the boiler Parry fitted was classified as at risk. He had not set the boiler to the correct pressure or fitted it to correctly-sized pipework.

Parry was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to one charge under Section 22 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and a further charge under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The self-employed man was jailed for four months in 2007 for a similar breach of a prohibition notice and for carrying out gas work without proper accreditation.

'Ken Parry has never had his competence assessed and has never been a member of an accredited and approved organisation, ' said HSE Inspector Hugh Emment.

Emment added: 'This was little more than an amateur doing work that by law must be done by a professional. In this case, it was fortunate that the householder recognised the shoddy standard of work and contacted Trading Standards. Mr Parry has repeatedly ignored the legal requirement for gas work to be carried out by competent personnel, and his imprisonment should serve as a warning to others who may be undertaking unauthorised gas work - they are putting their customers' lives - and their own liberty - at risk.'