New research by the Gas Sage Register has revealed that people are most likely to employ a tradesperson based on recommendations from friends or family members (53 per cent), and trust them based on their personal presentation (41 per cent) or how official they look (30 per cent), rather than on their qualifications (11 per cent).

Not only that but only one in five people (19 per cent) who employed a tradesperson to work on a gas appliance did not check their ID card or qualifications. As a result, 65 per cent of gas jobs carried out by ‘illegal’ fitters have been deemed unsafe, with one in five gas appliances were so dangerous that they had to be disconnected immediately.

Where does this information come from, you might wonder? An investigations team from the Gas Safe Register analysed and released four years’ worth of data, based on searches singling out unqualified and unregistered gas fitters across the UK. The team followed up on a total of 2300 illegal jobs and even tallied the percentage of illegal gas jobs found to be unsafe, per city. Check it out:

Leeds — 96 per cent
Nottingham — 86 per cent
Southampton — 80 per cent
London — 74 per cent
Edinburgh — 71 per cent
Manchester — 68 per cent
Sheffield —63 per cent
Liverpool — 61 per cent
Glasgow — 59 per cent
Birmingham — 54 per cent

To avoid spending more money on patching up poor workmanship, it’s important to always check a gas fitter’s qualifications, even if referenced by a friend or colleague.

At AA Cooper our engineers have many years of hands-on experience in their field and are all Gas Safe registered. For more information, contact the AACooper on 01689 485007 or info@aacooper.co.uk.

Source: Phamnews.co.uk – “ALMOST FIVE MILLION HOUSEHOLDS AT RISK FROM ILLEGAL GAS FITTERS”