As this place has all sorts of knowledge it is my GOTO answer bank. (Sorry for the long post)

A heating engineer came to inspect the boiler and cooker(landlord check) at my property. He went away after signing it off as ok (apparently he was only there for 15mins?).

The first time my tenants came to use the heating the boiler wouldn’t ignite as the pilot light was out and wouldn’t reignite.

I contacted him about it and he told me he did the check on the Friday and it was working when he left it (he did it the Sat afternoon and it was that night when it failed).

He told me he would come round and have a look at what was wrong. He contacted my tenants saying he would be round in the afternoon. Early evening he texted my tenants ‘I’m not coming round I’m off to my dad’s for my tea!’

I ended up getting someone out to them that evening (who was recommended) and he sorted it (bloody cheap too). He doesn’t know how how the original guy managed to relight the boiler as the igniter wasn’t working (I can handle that, as if it needed sorting why didn’t the original guy mention it, or fix it as I would have paid?) and he had to take it out and clean it up to ignite the thing (apparently it was sooted up). Also there was no mention of this on the report!

I am not a happy bunny that the original guy has signed off and left a boiler that wasn’t working (there was something else the 2nd engineer mentioned that he hadn’t checked, I need to get back in touch with him). Where do I stand lawfully with regards to not paying him? As I have had to pay for another engineer to come and sort out his slap dash work.

Another loss for the original guy, is that he has lost out on more work; as I am going to be replacing the boiler.

What sort of figure are we talking about?

You have proof he didn’t do the work he’s trying to charge you for ( or at least part of it ), can he prove he did anything? Get a report from second guy stating what he had to do. Contest what man 1 is asking for.

It’s £70, but it’s £70 for something that hasn’t been done right. I’m going to get plumber no.2 to do another check, as I am not confident at all. Last years check took ‘kin ages as I was there when he did it (the guy I used to use has quit the trade).

Just tell him he’s done a shit job and you’re not paying. That’s what I’d expect a client to tell me if I’d done similar to what you’ve described. I can’t see him taking you to small claims for £70.

Get documentation – get the tenants to sign a note saying that he was only there for 15 minutes on a day he claimed not to have been there.

Check with Gas Safe if he really is certified and how long a proper check would have taken with whatever you have installed.

If he presents a bill write back to him stating the facts as you can prove them saying that you are not going to pay the bill.

Like Tymbian says, get a report written up and then make a complaint against him to Gas Safe too. Crap tradesmen really piss me off, especially crap gas engineers.

£70 for 15 mins work, that’s cheap for a plumber.

You can’t do a proper Gas Safe check in 15 minutes.
You can pop in to the property, have a peek at the boiler and cooker and then swiftly exit for “tea at your Dads”.
The average rate for a proper Gas Safe inspection is £70 but I’m unsure of rates for a quick peek.
I’m sure the lovely people at Gas Safe would love to know that one of their certified engineers is doing a well rounded job.
Well rounded as in cutting all the corners.
Maybe your bloke was after the Strava Gas Safe KOM!

😆 at the KOM.

Cheers guys, you have backed up what I thought was the right thing to do. I going to get in touch with gas safe too (he is on their list as I wouldn’t touch anyone who wasn’t).

In a commercial situation the client would simply refuse to pay the supplier or contractor, which is what you need to do. He will not take you to court for £70; I expect his life is too chaotic even for him to write you a letter requesting payment.

Does the Gas Safe engineer have to file anything ‘with the authorities’ to say an inspection has been carried out?

If so you may have to get the second bloke back to do a report too if the first one doesn’t file?

I have requested the 2nd guy to come back and do a proper inspection.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dodgy-gas-fitters-would-you-pay-the-bill

This happened to us a few years ago.

We emailed them back highlighting the points specialknees pointed out.

Never heard a word back from them.

STW wins again.

Is he on Checkatrade?

I had a similar thing where young chap tried to convince me I had a leak and condemned my system.
I was suspicious and got a second opinion from a recommended gas fitter. Surprise! not a leak at all just a boiler that needed fixing

I got the original cost back after complaining to Checkatrade who do everything they can to avoid you leaving bad reviews

As a fellow tradesman(wood) i always try to see the tradesmans point of view, but to deliberately lie to a customer about something that is a legal requirement for landlords and also Gas safe, there is no excuse, gas kills and damages property if not rtreated with care and with all safety work done .

DONT EVER PAY HIM ANYTHING, report him to gas safe, who will send out their engineer to check and take a statement, also he was Gas safe certified and you have his registration number.

It’s a tricky one. Unless the 15 mins was timed, it could have been a half hour, but as he’s not charging an hourly rate as long as the correct checks have been carried out it’s not much of an argument.
Did you ask for an inspection or an inspection and a service?
If it was an inspection only, he checked it, it could have been fine when he left and a small pilot light fault has occurred afterwards?
I use a few gas safe heating engineers for my business and rental properties. I pay in between £30-45 for a cp12 and they aren’t in the house for very long!

Just had my certificate and bill through from the original plumber. He hasn’t tested the gas hob (which I told him that needed doing in the email).

So I have to get that tested as well!!!!

I am trying to think of the best way to phrase **** off I’m not paying you in my correspondence.

So far I’ve had to pay: Emergency plumber fee to get the boiler working again, another plumber to come and safety test the hob.

Lessons have been learned here.

Wipe your arse with the certificate and send it back to him.

😆 Errr not sure that is right.

Get the second guy to do a report on what he did and why he believes the first guy was incompetent.
Take this to trading standards and CORGI.
Then send the first guy a letter, complete with a copy of the report explaining you will be withholding payment.
That should be the last you hear of the guy.
If he continues to demand payment go back to Trading standards and let them deal with him.

Who’s to say engineer 2 hasn’t invented work that didn’t need done and took advantage of operator error?