The lying, thieving incompetent plumber is now out of the house, unbeknown to him, never to return to finish the job.

I paid him half today, and asked for a receipt (bearing in mind I rang the long-established, reputable (?) company direct, and this guy is the only contact I’ve had with since) – “Oh, erm we don’t do receipts for cash jobs, you know Tax man etc”

Now I’ve played everything very ‘cool’ with this arsehole so far, and letting him dig his own grave; I didn’t want to be in a position of a half done job. Better to get finished, and then fix cock-ups due to time constraints.

Rather than get off on too much of a tangent here, some of the work he’s done, involved fiddling with the gas, and at the time of his initial visit he said his gas safe had lapsed and he’d get one of the other lads to do it. Fair enough.

I can’t prove (of of the few things I can’t prove as I wasn’t there all the time) that one the ‘lads’ didn’t do it (bloody unlikely though), but aside from that fact I don’t want a complex bathroom installation as a ‘cash job’…..

…isn’t it illegal for gas work, and doesn’t that mean the work isn’t registered?

In a nutshell yes. Work doesn’t need to be registered as it does with electrics but I’m sure GasSafe would take a dim view of him fiddling with gas lines without a valid ticket.

If he is telling you that anything has been registered, then ask to see the paperwork.

Then uppercut him for being such a ****.

…or/and (uppercut as applicable) http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/report_business_form.aspx

Jamie has the answer. Uppercut!!!
Big shame that knobbers like that cause hard working tradesman to be tarred with the same brush!

Report him to Gas safe, they hopefully will send out someone to check his work, best not to smoke, switch a light on or off and if you smell gas RUN VERY FAST.

Im not a plumber or even gas safe registered, but if i was i wouldnt want that sort of chap ruining the reputation of reputable plumbers.

Ta Matt. That’s what I can’t prove: they can say “Oh yes, our gas-safe engineer did that part of the job”.

It’s whether then asking for it as a cash job, would then be illegal, in the gas-safe sense (rather than simply just the tax avoidance)

Cheers Jamie: He’s not telling me that anything has been registered; when he said about “cash job this me laddie”, I did not bring up the question of the work that’s been done with gas, I just rumbled on about wanting something to satisfy solictor at such time of house re-sale/new soil stack/building control etc etc).

That’s why I would like to know the legality of the ‘cash/gas-work’ combination – ammo you see.

Report him to Gas safe, they hopefully will send out someone to check his work, best not to smoke, switch a light on or off and if you smell gas RUN VERY FAST.

Very unlikely there’s anything amiss. If he was trained, he’ll know what he’s doing.

NB I do my own gas work – it’s really not at all difficult.

Very unlikely there’s anything amiss. If he was trained, he’ll know what he’s doing.

The bath rocks back and forth, there are no battons supporting it.

The copper pipework is very exposed behind the basin & pan (not necessarily so)

He’s cut through many floorboards, away from joists, and just left.

He blown out brickwork and made no attempt to make good (yes, I know now, should have got a written quote!)

He’s robbed the cast iron, (what I now know was) a perfectly good £100+ boiler filter, the lead pipe, lied, and left the smashed asbestos pipe for me to keep.

I could go on, but on his history, I find it very unlikely there isn’t anything amiss with his gas work.

Hmm, sounds a bit of a nightmare. Partly why I just do everything myself.

ok lets addres some issues..

first is he gas safe registered and thus competant.. simple to chack on the gas safe website all you have to do is put in his name and up he pops with a photo if hes cosha

secondly if your unhappy with the gas work contact gas safe and free of charge they ll send a very nice man round to check the work FOC

thirdly. if he has installed an appliance he has to register it with gas safe and they register it with your local authority who will then issue you with a certificate
thirdly part a he should upon completion of the work complete a benchmark document and a safety check for which you get a certificate there and then, these arent extras there building regs/ legal requremnets

blowing out brickwork is quite common.. everyday occurance some make good some do not

removal of redundant stuff is usual, non removal would be unusual. if customer requests to keep part or all of the redundant stuff they keep the lot.

you paid cash because you wanted the job done cheaply… it seems thats
what you got..

blowing out brickwork is quite common.. everyday occurance some make good some do not

Esp in Victorian houses with lime mortar which never sets. Just one tap with an SDS drill to chase out a socket and you can send a brick flying across the floor of the next room. Been there, done that!

Totalshell, thanks. Respectfully (meant sincerely)

first is he gas safe registered and thus competant

No. He told me his has lapsed (he’s late 60’s) when he gave the quote, but he works for a company with a few engineers, and told me he would get one of them to do that part of the work.

you paid cash because you wanted the job done cheaply… it seems thats
what you got..

I never, for one moment, was under the impression I was getting a cash job. I never asked for it, it wasn’t discussed, and I don’t want it. First I knew was when I asked for a receipt for the first £600 today. It’s a con to suddenly spring that on someone, what I don’t know is whether the company is complicit in this kind of thing, or if he is just trying it on with me.

Regarding the blown out brickwork, I can live with that & understand – I didn’t get a proper written quote after all. Just an added annoyance on top of a shoddy job. (and robbing the £100+ of metals, and leaving the asbestos really does grate)

I pay a yearly fee to be Gas Safe registered and every 5 years have to sit my exams, pass them or im out of a job.

This situation and situations like this do the industry no good but contact Gas Safe and report. If he or his company have a Gas Safe number input it on the RHS of the website. Gas Safe

Hope you get it sorted and aren’t out of pocket to much.

Thanks dirtdiggler. So do you know if it is legal for a gas-safe registered company to do a ‘cash deal’, no matter who the twit is they send out to do it?

(As far as I am concerned, I’m dealing with the company I phoned in the first place)

Did he smash the asbestos pipe?

If so then the HSE will want to speak to him about dangerous Asbestos work.

1st call would be Gas Safe as that is the most pressing.

2nd would be the council regarding the shoddy work and asbestos. Get the material checked to confirm what it is.

3rd would be the HSE if it’s shown to be asbestos

4th would be HMRC regarding tax evasion

You should have replied “I wish I could do cash jobs in my line of work…” and then when he said, what do you do, you could have said “I’m a tax inspector…”

Yes Andy, he smashed the asbestos pipe by his own admission. At a guess he thought it was cast iron like the other, therefore making it easier to put in his van, as I witnessed him doing.

The shit.

I’m still unsure on advice so far about gas work, so i’ll ring council in morning and start on asbestos.

“Blowing out brickwork” one of my big pet hates! No need for it!

The Gas and shoddy work are the problem here, not the cash payment.

It is illegal to do paid employment on gas pipes. However, if he has done the job correctly (possibly he has?) then all GasSafe will do is try to discipline the Company who employed him. But then they will say their other bloke did the actual gas work, and he forgot to give you the paperwork listing what he had done. It’ll then be an admin error, and they’ll be told to not do it again.

Shoddy work – no excuse for it, you dont pay them the rest until it is finished.
He knew it was asbestos, so should have taken precautions to dispose of it safely. It isnt too onerous if it was concrete encased asbestos, as most flues were.

Cash payment – dont. Give them a cheque or bank transfer.

Gas safe won’t care if you pay for the job by cash, cheque, or a crate of beer. What they will care about is that the work is safe. Therefore if you give them a call they will send an inspector round in short order.

If he had two full lengths of cast soil stack he probably got a whopping £2.00 or less at the tat yard. I would quit bitching about that. He did you a favour TBF. Also, he can’t remove the asbestos from site unless he has a hazmat lisence because he has no way to dispose of it. That is your responsibility unless it was discussed otherwise in the quotation.
Regarding the gas work. If he’s not registered he has worked illegally. Report to gas safe. If you’re worried or can smell gas, Turn off the gas at the emergency control lever immediately, open doors and windows and call transco. They will come and put a test of the pipe work for free and advise you if there’s a problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending him, but you have your priorities a bit skewed. Deal with the gas safe issue.
As for cash and legality. Payment, the most important part of the job, should also be discussed during in the quotation process.
It’s not against any law to work for cash or to ask for it. Whether he pays the tax on that afterwards is a matter for the tax office, not you. Frankly, you have no idea whether he will or won’t.
Asking for a receipt is perfectly reasonable and if he refused to give one, you just tell him. The cash will be waiting here for you when you bring it back.
I’d stop searching for ways to screw him over because your unhappy with what he’s done and start figuring out ways to either get him or someone else to resolve the issues you have.

gears stuck is spot on.. deal with the important stuff.. the stuff that will kill you..

get the gas sorted NOW.. 0800111999 its FREE

the scrap issue really has you,,, step back.. cast iron is currently 14p a kilo delivered.. FOURTEEN PENCE A KILO..

the guy can ask for anything in payment for any type of work.. i ve taken jars of jam, beer, a kitchen table and chairs, a new front door and occasionally cash and cheques..

the scrap issue really has you

It’s the lying to deception that has me, not £50 of metals.

the guy can ask for anything in payment for any type of work

That was the op really thanks, I just went off a bit.

Nat Grid on way now (better get up there, thanks for advice, apologies for ranting again!)

I can’t agree with gear suck on the Asbestos side:

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/bins-recycling-and-street-cleaning/hazardous-household-waste

If you are employing a builder, make sure they include the cost of disposing the asbestos in their quote. It is a builder’s responsibility to take care of the waste if they have created it – so do not dispose of it for them.

and http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/guidance/a0.pdf

Gas is safe.

Local HSE guy said that sticky, as no contract, but berated him for not realising when he did quote.

Also noticed today that he’s run off with the carrier bag of connections/stop tap I bought when I was going to connect up mains myself!

Sounds like the only thing he hasn’t stole, is your heart 🙁

😀

Just fired off a typical ‘sternly worded email’ to company; 24 hours to respond in a Jack Bauer style. Not very hopeful, but then I’ve only paid half.

Off up there now to smash some socket sized holes in walls, that might help numb the pain. 😉

andyl – Member
I can’t agree with gear suck on the Asbestos side:

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/bins-recycling-and-street-cleaning/hazardous-household-waste

If you are employing a builder, make sure they include the cost of disposing the asbestos in their quote. It is a builder’s responsibility to take care of the waste if they have created it – so do not dispose of it for them.

I think you missed a bit there…

If in doubt, employ a specialist asbestos contractor to do the work for you.

In my case I am always up front with the customer about waste removal. As I do not have a carriers license and am not hazmat licensed either.
If it’s written in the contract that you agree you will not be dealing with it. Then it is not your responsibility as a builder/plumber.
I point customers to people qualified to deal with such materials. I’ve never had one complain about organising it themselves. Otherwise they’d be paying me to be a middle man. They see the logic where the costs are concerned.

Just to round this off, it appears the email worked.

A very panicky boss of company rang earlier, admitted this guy has worked illegally on my gas (I didn’t expect that), did not question what I had stated about what the chap has done, and wants to meet asap at property to inspect, and resolve the whole thing.

Can’t say fairer than that.

Can’t say fairer than that.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu1JMbSLPvc[/video]

….let’s see what they say first 8)

Allow me to fix that for you 😉

let’s see what she says first

Sounds like the boss might want to smooth things over and get the job done right. Fingers crossed.

Well?