Families Warned Over Risk From Unregistered Gas Work As Prosecutions Rise

New figures published for Gas Safety Week show a rise in prosecutions for unregistered gas work, including cases involving fake Gas Safe identity and installations judged immediately dangerous; HSE advises verification of registration and reporting of rogue traders.

The Health and Safety Executive has revealed that 17 people have been convicted since the start of 2025 for carrying out gas work without registration on the Gas Safe Register, up from three convictions in 2022/23 and four in 2023/24. The announcement coincides with Gas Safety Week and follows prosecutions where traders used a fake Gas Safe logo and where unsafe installations put a 90 year old homeowner at risk.

HSE warns that unqualified gas work can lead to gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning, and that unsafe installations are sometimes judged immediately dangerous. Gas Safety Week brings the gas industry, local authorities and landlords together to raise awareness. The regulator recommends verifying an engineer is on the Gas Safe Register before work begins, asking to see their Gas Safe ID card and ringing 0800 408 5500 to confirm registration.

Recent prosecutions summarise the types of failings HSE prosecutes. Alexander Robson advertised using a fake Gas Safe logo and carried out illegal and substandard work at five homes; he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years and had previously been on the Gas Safe Register until 1 February 2024 but continued working after that date. Israel Jackson was jailed for 12 months after installing a boiler for a 90 year old, issuing a fraudulent safety certificate, ignoring an immediately dangerous notice and later pleading guilty to contraventions of Regulations 3(3) and 3(7) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; HSE records show he had a prior prosecution in 2015. Lee Lancaster received a 12 month community order with 200 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay £2,000 costs after illegal installation that caused three gas leaks and left a family without heating for six weeks; that work was classified as immediately dangerous and he pleaded guilty to Regulations 3(1) and 3(3) of the same regulations.

Steve Critchlow, HSE's Principal Inspector for Gas Safety, has more than 30 years experience and provides technical advice to inspectors and the gas sector. He regularly attends incidents involving explosions and carbon monoxide deaths, gives evidence at coroner hearings and in prosecutions, and will speak at events in the UK and Scottish Parliaments during Gas Safety Week. HSE urges people who suspect they have used a rogue trader to report it so it can investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute.

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