With Gas Safety Week nearly upon us, TrustMark and the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) have issued a timely reminder to homeowners to steer clear of bogus gas installers.

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week taking place between 15 and 21 September to raise awareness of gas safety, the importance of taking care of your gas appliances and always using a Gas Safe registered engineer.


There are thousands of unregistered, unqualified workers in the UK carrying out over 250,000 jobs each year; apart from putting lives at risk it is costing around £100 million a year just to rectify this unsafe work.


Roderick Pettigrew, chief executive of B&ES, comments: “Every week families and especially OAPs fall victim to bogus gas fitters who don't have the skills or qualifications to work on gas appliances, which is specialist work and potentially very dangerous. Poorly installed gas work can cause explosions or carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be fatal and can also cause serious long-term health problems.


This year, Gas Safe Register, local registered engineers and local Fire and Rescue Services will be visiting the following cities throughout Gas Safety Week:


Simon Ayers, chief executive of TrustMark, added: “Gas Safety Week is a great national safety campaign and a seriously important message to drive home to all homeowners. Staying safe in your home is paramount so we strongly advise anyone who is considering having any work carried out on their gas boilers or gas appliances to only use reputable firms that have been assessed and qualified and are Gas Safe registered.


“By using TrustMark registered heating engineers, consumers will have assurance and peace of mind that the work will be carried out to a consistently high professional standard and will be done in the best way to ensure a safe job to a quality standard.”


For more information about Trustmark visit: www.trustmark.org.uk. For advice on home heating and energy saving, visit: www.heatinghelpline.org.uk.