The appliance is dangerous, or the customer blames my repair for a flood: what do I do first?

Written for plumbers, gas and heating engineers, electricians, heat pump and drainage firms, bathroom installers doing their own plumbing, and small multi-trade firms serving landlords, anywhere in the UK.

The short version

1. Make it safe before anything else.Follow the Unsafe Situations Procedure. If permission to disconnect an Immediately Dangerous appliance is refused, record it and call the gas emergency service.
2. Write everything on the warning notice.Record the classification, the fault, the action, any refusal and the emergency reference. It is your defence if there is an incident later.
3. Tell your insurer the same day.Late notice is the commonest reason cover is refused. Admit nothing to the customer and keep the failed part.

This lesson covers three ways a job can go badly wrong: an installation that is dangerous, a carbon monoxide call, and damage the customer blames on your work. In each, what you do first, and what you write down, matters later.

An unsafe gas appliance

Follow the Unsafe Situations Procedure (IGEM/G/11), the industry standard Gas Safe expects.

1. Immediately Dangerous.With the responsible person's permission, disconnect and seal it. If they refuse, turn it off if you can and call the gas emergency service (the gas supplier for LPG), which can cut off the supply, and note its reference. Either way, label it "Danger Do Not Use" and record any refusal on the warning notice.
2. At Risk.With permission, turn it off. Either way, label it "Danger Do Not Use", give a warning notice, and record any refusal on it.
3. Short of current standards, but not unsafe.No longer a category in the procedure, because such work is not unsafe. You can still advise the customer in writing, but not on a warning notice.

The warning notice is your defence after a carbon monoxide incident. It records the classification (Immediately Dangerous or At Risk), the fault in plain words, the action taken, whether permission was refused, a signature or a note of refusal, and the emergency service reference.

The family is protected by the call, and you are protected by the notice: it is your defence if there is an incident later.

A carbon monoxide call

A tenant reports a CO alarm at 9pm and two children have headaches. Get everyone out, ventilate only if it is safe, call 0800 111 999 (0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland), and 999 for the illness. Then make safe, test the appliances and flues, and record the time, the CO readings and where you took them, the appliances tested and the results, the action taken and who you told. Notify the agent and your insurer.

The customer blames your repair for a flood

For example: three weeks after a £180 compression joint repair, a customer's kitchen floods and she claims £18,000. The steps are the same whatever the size of the claim.

1. Notify your insurer the same day.Tell your public liability insurer before any admission or settlement.
2. Admit nothing.Say nothing to the customer about fault, in person or in writing.
3. Keep the evidence.Keep the failed fitting and inspect it with photos, and keep your job sheet and readings.
4. Let the loss adjuster lead.Whether you are liable turns on reasonable care and skill and on what actually caused the leak.

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