Beware of cowboys!
When the boiler breaks down in the middle of January, leaving you and your family freezing cold, it can be tempting to pick up the phone and find the first engineer who is available to come out and get the house warm again. If you’ve ever seen programmes like Watchdog or Rogue Traders you’ll know that although the vast majority of tradespeople are reputable and professional, there is a small percentage which give the trade a bad name, and this is especially the case with heating engineers.
Consequences
Does it really matter if your heating engineer knows what they are doing or holds all of the appropriate certificates? If your heating is gas fired, it is of critical importance. Anyone doing maintenance, installation or repair work on any sort of gas boiler must be Gas Safe registered. Choosing someone who is not on the register means that their work has not been proven to be up to an acceptable standard and in some cases, could be downright dangerous. They are also operating illegally by working on your system while unregistered, and if they have little regard for the law, corners may also be cut elsewhere. Gas explosions can and do occur after cowboy heating engineers have been let loose on household heating systems, and it is really not worth the risk. Even if your central heating is oil fired or electric, it is essential to make sure that the engineer knows what they are doing to avoid fires or invalidating any warranty on your boiler.
Big Names
One of the ways of ensuring that you are getting someone who knows what they are doing is to go to one of the major energy companies for your heating repairs. Eon, Npower, British Gas and the rest of them all have a vested interest in making sure that their engineers are properly trained and aren’t out to rip customers off. It is also easy to get in touch with the companies concerned and they offer guarantees and warranties on their work too. The disadvantage may be that larger companies are slower to respond than local firms, and you don’t get the personal touch that you do with smaller organisations.
CORGI and Gas Safe
A few years ago the body which regulates the gas central heating industry changed from CORGI to Gas Safe, but in practice many people still refer to engineers as being “CORGI registered”. Gas Safe is the new body which regulates the industry, and the Gas Safe register website enables homeowners to check out whether engineers are registered, and helps them find registered companies in their area by entering their postcode into the search page. Checking the register is only half of the job though, and many homeowners forget to check on the identity of the person coming to the house to do the work. All Gas Safe engineers have identity cards with their photographs, and won’t be offended if you ask them to verify their identity before letting them loose on your heating system.
Quotes and References
If you are considering a major piece of work such as having a whole central heating system replaced, it is essential to get a few quotes which can be compared to get the best deal. Professional heating engineers will produce professional looking quotes on headed notepaper with full contact details and any VAT registration details. Many heating engineers will also be happy to provide contact details for customers who have had similar work done in the past. Finally, your local Trading Standards department will be aware of any complaints or problems with local heating engineers, so give them a call if you are still harbouring any doubts.
Know the Danger Signs
If you have followed the rules about getting recommendations and using only Gas Safe engineers, you should be fairly safe from the cowboys. However, there are some things which should set the alarm bells ringing and lead you to think you may have a cowboy on your hands. Heating engineers will never ask for full payment up front, and as good heating engineers often have more work than they can handle, be suspicious if they can start immediately and never seem to be working elsewhere. If they avoid putting anything in writing and refuse to sign a contract, be very suspicious indeed.
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