Advice MAintenAnce


Employing unregulated suppliers and contractors can be a costly business as one Essex landlord recently found out


Don’ttake therisk


AsmAll itemin A side columnof the Essex County Standard newspaper, 25 October2013 edition, was headed House owner fined for illegal works.Asmall news item, butwithsignificant impact on thepersonwho foundthemselves in court. This storyservesasawarning to landlords,RMC directors and anyone else who is responsible formanaging property, of therisks of notemploying properly regulated tradespeople. The case concerned the landlord of a


residentialpropertywho wasprosecutedfor employingatradesmanwhowas notcorrectly registeredtoundertake theworks they had beenemployed to carryout.The landlord, ClaireSherwood,employedgas fitters to installaboilerather Colchester homein March2012. In April2012sheemployed the samegasfitterstoinstall aboilerataproperty she owned and rented out. An investigation by theHealth&Safety


Executive (HSE) found that Mrs Sherwood, in her role as landlord, had failed to check that thegas fitters shehademployed were competent. She should have ensured they were registered with theGas Safe Register –alegal requirement for anyone undertaking gas work, such as installing boilers. MrsSherwood wasprosecutedat


Chelmsford CrownCourt in October 2013.She wasfound guilty of breaching Regulation 36(4)ofthe GasSafety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, whichstate,“Everylandlord shallensure that anyworkinrelationtoarelevantgas fitting or anycheck of agas applianceor flueiscarried outby, or by anemployee of,a member of classofpersons approved forthe timebeingbythe Health&SafetyExecutive for the purposes of Regulation 3(3) of these regulations.” Mrs Sherwoodwas fined a total of £950.00.


However, herfinewasinsignificantcompared to the £4,000 in costs shewas also ordered to paytowards theHSE investigation and prosecution. The article in her hometown’s local newspaper probably only poured salt onto herwounds. Landlords and letting agentsmust


ensure that tradespeopletheyemployto undertakekey worksare notonlyproperly qualified, butalsoregistered with the relevant agencies. For example,electricians carrying out work in England andWales


26


tradespeople canbe verycostly


have to comply with Part Pofthe Building Regulations. Electricians can be approved by a recognised organisation or are government- approved if they are registered with the Electrical Safety Register (maintained by the Electrical Safety Council),orother approved organisationstocarry outelectricalwork in accordance with Part Pofthe Building Regulations, such as theNICEIC.


Tradespeople should be


registered as well as qualified


notundertaking correctcheckson


Alltheright creDentiAls


If youare employingacontractor, supplier or tradesmanmake sure they belong to the relevant trade or


professional body Architects Shouldbemembersof the Royal InstitutionofBritishArchitects (RIBA).Go towww.architecture.comforalist ofmembers.


surveyors Shouldbemembersof theRoyal InstitutionofCharteredSurveyors (RICS).Goto www.rics.orgforalist ofmembers.


structurAl engineers Shouldbe membersoftheInstitutionofStructural Engineers (IStructE).Gotowww.istructe.org.uk foralist ofmembers.


Builders Shouldideallybeamemberof anapprovedtradeassociation.Checktheir credentialsatwww.cita.co.uk


WindoWreplAcementIfyouneeda glazingspecialistalwaysuseaFenestration Self-AssessmentScheme(FENSA)registered specialist.Gotowww.fensa.co.ukfordetails.


roofingSpecialistsshouldbemembersof theNationalFederationofRoofingContractors. Gotowww.nfrc.co.ukformore information.


plumBingAnd heAtingDon’tusea plumberorcentralheatingengineerunless theyareamemberoftheCharteredInstitute of PlumbingandHeatingEngineers (CIPHE).Go towww.ciphe.org.uk formore information.


reliABletrAdesmenof allkindsfrom plumbers to landscapegardeners–should beapprovedbythegovernment’s Trustmark scheme.Gotowww.trustmark.org.ukorCheck- a-tradeatwww.checkatrade.com


As can be seen fromthe case of Mrs


Sherwood,the costsofnot undertaking correctchecksontradespeoplecan be very expensive! If you are a flat owner, rather than a


landlord, with no onetoconsiderbut yourself andyourfamily, youshouldstill take care when appointing individualsorcompanies to carryoutmaintenanceorhome improvement works. Check that anyone youareemployingisaqualifiedmemberof therelevanttrade bodyfor theiroccupation


(see boxabove)and don’tforgettoask afew basic questions: nAreall operatives fullyemployed and properly trained?


nIs thecompany/individual fullyinsured (public liability and professional indemnity whererelevant) andabletomeetall relevanthealth&safetyrequirements. If youhave any doubts, don’t be afraid to ask for documentation.Anyonewho is legitimatewon’thaveaproblemwith this. nDoes thecompany/individual have a


licence to responsibly dispose of waste? nAre client testimonials available? Formoreonemploying contractors, seep23


of the last issue of Flat Living (issue16) or go to www.flat-living.co.ukfor an online versionof the article.●


Issue17 Flat Living


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