Gas boilers (and all gas appliances) are potentially very dangerous pieces of equipment. They work by combusting (burning) gas, and that presents the risk of fire and explosion. They can also give off carbon monoxide if they are not burning correctly, which is a highly toxic gas.
You can make sure that your gas appliances are safe by having them installed, serviced and safety checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Gas Safe registered engineers
According to the Gas Safe Register website, they are the official listing site for gas businesses that have been registered to work safely and legally on gas appliances such as boilers, cookers, and fires. It is illegal for an unregistered engineer to work on your appliances.
The Gas Safe register works hard to protect the public from unsafe gas installations and repairs. They have a national investigations team that actively tracks down illegal gas installers and repairers.
They carry out regular inspections of work carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers, and they investigate reports of unsafe work. They also work hard to raise awareness of gas safety issues, including carbon monoxide poisoning. The Gas Safe Register took over from the CORGI register in 2009.
Radiators
As you are having your heating system checked by a gas safe engineer you could possibly look at what radiators you have and potentially make an upgrade to column radiators.
They are worth every penny and look great in the house even if you do wonder at first How much do column radiators cost you will soon see their value.
Insurance cover
When you use a Gas Safe engineer for the work will be covered by your insurance if anything does go wrong. By choosing a registered installer such you will know that your insurance will be valid, and you will not be left out of pocket if something happens during or after the work.
The safety of your loved ones
It is not possible to put a price on the safety of your loved ones. Yet, millions of jobs are carried out by unregistered, and therefore illegal, operators every year. This puts millions of people at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning, fires, and explosions. People have died and many more have been injured.
The only way to be sure that your engineer is both qualified and experienced enough to work on your gas appliance is to check yourself by visiting the Gas Safe website and using the search facility.
You can check if they are on the register at all and then check that they are competent for the specific job that they are doing for you.
