What Exactly Is a Gas Safe Registered Business or Engineer?

The Gas Safety Register is the UK’s official body which certifies and regulates gas businesses and engineers to ensure that they are fit and able to provide an adequate service for customers. UK law directs that all gas businesses and engineers must be registered on the Gas Safe Register.

For a gas engineer to be registered on the Gas Safe Register, they must be associated with a business and then be provided with a certified license to carry out gas engineering work on behalf of that organisation. An engineer will be issued with a valid license following completion of training and assessment. A business can only be marked as ‘registered’ if at least one of their engineers is qualified and licensed.

As the governing body of gas businesses and engineers, the Gas Safety Register is the only official UK list of qualified gas businesses and engineers and their work also includes monitoring those on the register to ensure that they remain compliant. If there is a gas safety complaint against a business or engineer, the Gas Safety Register will also investigate these complaints and follow that up with a sanctions policy if rules have been breached as well as investigate illegal gas work.

The Importance of Hiring a Gas Safe Engineer For Your Repair and Maintenance Work

Although the Gas Safety Register runs a tight ship and only ever registers engineers and businesses who have passed the relevant training and assessment courses, some illegal engineers do manage to find work without being registered. In fact, the Gas Safety Register has spent the past few years working on thousands of investigations on gas work which has been completed illegally. During these investigations, the body also discovered that a third of adults don’t check the identification of the engineer who is completing the work on their appliances and that, of the investigations they ran, two-thirds of the work was completed to an unsafe standard. It’s vital that you check the certification of your engineer for the below reasons.

1. For Your Health and Safety

The most important reason to have all of your gas work completed by a registered engineer is to protect yourself from accidents or carbon monoxide poisoning. Illegal gas engineers have not been trained sufficiently enough to either install, repair or check gas appliances which means there is a significant risk that they will not perform the job to a satisfactory standard. If your appliance is not fitted or repaired properly then it can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions or slowly let out poisonous gasses which could cause you physical harm or even kill you. If you get a recommendation from a friend or family member, the first step is to always check them on the Gas Safety Register before hiring them. You should also double-check that they are certified for the specific job you need to be completed.

2. You’ll Remain Covered By Your Insurance

When working with a Gas Safe Registered engineer, even if something does go wrong in the future, you’ll still be covered by your insurance. Some insurance premiums will not pay out if you’ve worked with an unqualified engineer, which could leave you in an extremely dire situation. Particularly if you’re a landlord and an accident takes place which has put your tenants in danger and you haven’t used a qualified engineer, you could find yourself in very hot water.

3. Feeling Safe in Your Home

As a homeowner or tenant, it’s vital for your wellbeing that you feel safe in your own home. Being frightened for your family’s safety when in the comfort of your own home can be an extremely stressful experience which no one ever wants. You and your family will want to get home after a long day of work and feel like you’re safe. Living on the edge can quite easily bring on anxieties that you could live without.

4. Improve The Longevity Of Your Appliances

Having your gas appliances checked on a regular basis can help to improve the longevity of your appliances by ensuring they work properly and spotting any potential issues early and having them fixed. If you worked with an illegal engineer, they may perform the necessary repair work to an unsatisfactory standard which could exacerbate the issues that already exist and put you in more danger.

5. Save Money in The Long Run

Repair work to boilers and other gas appliances can turn out to be costly if left for too long to worsen over time. However, by working with a trusted Gas Safe Registered engineer, you can ensure that all of the work completed on your appliance is done to an acceptable standard and that your appliance will not breakdown again in the near future. Ensuring that you fix repairs at the right time and to a professional standard will save you money by reducing the number of future repairs.

How Often Should I Have Gas Appliances Checked?

Having your gas appliances checked is vital for the health and safety of your home. Your gas appliances can emit carbon monoxide when they’re on the blink, so it’s crucial that they’re kept to a high standard as much as possible. If your boiler was installed or repaired incorrectly, then carbon monoxide leaks can occur. In the very worst situations, a fire or explosion could occur as the result of a poorly-installed or a broken gas appliance like a boiler or gas stove.

To prevent these kinds of accidents from happening, a gas safety check should take place once per year and should always be performed by a Gas Safe Registered engineer. At the same time as having your appliances checked, it’s also worth having the gas piping looked at at the same time. If you’re a landlord, checking the pipework is a legal necessity.

You should only ever have your gas appliances checked over by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The checks will ensure that the gases in your appliances are burning correctly, that the appliance is suitable for the room it is located in and that the appliance has been properly fitted to the pipework. The check will also ensure that there is always a permanent supply of air to the appliance and that all of the flues, vents and chimneys operate in the manner that they should.

Are You Looking For a Gas Service Engineer In Romford? Look No Further

If you’re looking for a gas heating engineer in Romford, look no further than Boiler Medic. We have more than three decades worth of experience providing expert gas engineer services to a wide range of both domestic and commercial clients in Romford and beyond.

Our skilled workforce can provide you with all of the services you need, whether you’re a letting agent, a homeowner or a property developer.

If you require repair, maintenance, plumbing or advice on your heating systems, look no further than Boiler Medic. We’re Gas Safe Register approved, so all of our engineers can be trusted to perform safe work which will last the test of time.

To find out more, please feel free to contact one of the members of our team. You can find us at Boiler Medic 37 Avenue Rd, Romford, Essex RM3 0SS or call us on 01708 725068 or email us at info@boilermedic.com.