More landlord woes!

A landlord in Plymouth was recently fined £11,000 plus costs for risking the lives of the tenants living in his property due to a faulty boiler.

A landlord in Plymouth was recently fined £11,000 plus costs for risking the lives of the tenants living in his property due to a faulty boiler. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded that the boiler was 'an immediate danger to life or property'.

In the light of the above salutary reminder, many landlords would think that employing the services of a plumber should be sufficient to avoid these problems.

However the recent case again brought by the HSE shows that it is important for landlords to ensure that they are using the services of reputable, properly accredited trades people.

A plumber in Chelmsford installed three boilers all of which were found to be defective. He was not Gas Safe registered despite the fact that he was using the Gas Safe logo on his van and was signing off work with an expired Gas Safe registration number.

In an even worse case, a plumber called Gary Lynch used a sub contractor to carry out gas safety checks on 14 occasions which left tenant's lives at risk. A false Gas Safe Register registration number was used. One boiler may have been leaving carbon monoxide causing the tenants to feel dizzy and have headaches which is why they called in the HSE to investigate.

Gary Lynch pleaded guilty to various offences and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for each offence, suspended for 18 months.

A representative from the HSE said: 'Gary Lynch's negligence could have cost lives. All landlord's gas safety checks must be done by registered Gas Safe engineers to ensure the highest standards are met to prevent injury and loss of life.

Mr Lynch knew this but carried on instructing an unregistered man and put the lives of tenants at serious risk from deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.'

To discuss this or any other landlord and tenant related issue, contact us.