As an industry, we’re slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things. Business is picking up with people who held off getting services and routine maintenance done during lockdown now booking before the cold weather starts. Also, the summer holiday funds that didn’t get spent this year are now being invested in new heating systems and boilers. It looks like it’s going to be a very busy winter for everyone in the industry.
So if you haven’t already booked your five-year competency assessment we strongly urge you to do it soon. The last thing we want to see is a guy who’s so busy he leaves it too late and the training centres are all booked up. Your registration will run out if you don’t keep your five-year reassessment up to date.
While the work is ramping up, there have been some issues with availabilities of stock. But suppliers are working twice as hard to get things back to normal. On our Facebook page we see suppliers working overtime to try and help our members out. We’d like to say thanks to them and thanks to the boiler manufacturers who extended warranties and gave grace periods during lockdown.
Gas Safety Week has just happened and this is a topic that is at the core of what we do here on the Gas Chat Forum. We’re all gas-registered installers, but some are newer to the industry than others. The guys who are just starting out have questions regarding gas safety particularly surrounding ventilation and carbon monoxide. These issues are second nature to our more experienced members who are only too happy to share their knowledge.
Our forum is a good place to come on and have a chat about this. We drill home in a friendly way that gas safety is the most important thing about our work. It’s not just about putting heat in a house.
As soon as you arrive on a job the first questions you should be asking yourself about an appliance is, ‘Is this safe, is that sound?’ ‘Is it going to be dangerous?’ Once the safety box is ticked then you can deal with the actual production of the heat from the appliance.
When you’re making a visual inspection of appliances it’s got to be a hands on inspection. We’ve come across companies that are taking shortcuts. They’re spending just 15 minutes ‘inspecting’, which is just not good enough.
As an engineer you sign your name on a certificate so there is a level of responsibility for you to give a full visual inspection of the appliance. You need to inspect where it’s installed, the field around it, the air intake, make sure the flue seals are sound. These are things you won’t see if you’re just standing looking at it. You have to go looking for these things. Get in there, check the integrity of the flue seals. Keep your customers gas safe.
If you are an RGI or work in the gas industry and would like to join our pressure-free forum, search for “Gas Chat Ireland” on Facebook for help, advice, member deals and a bit of craic.
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