Carbon Monoxide

[richard978]

I work for a gas network and for many years installed appliances. I'm not going to say which company for obvious reasons.

Until recently there was a certain amount of flexibility on how we dealt with CO alarms. We carry equipment that measures CO and Gas but no Co2 so there is no ratios.

So in short if we attend a CO alarm activation we are told to isolate the gas supply at the meter.

Personally I find this very frustrating as often I'm turning things off when I know there isn't really a problem or the fact that the CO alarm is sat right above a cooker.

There is now a qualification just for this very aspect according to Gas Safe. I had a chat with Gas Safe last month and the new requirements and tests made my head spin. When I asked whether this was a mandatory requirement for attending these jobs the answer was ambiguous.

I'm just wondering how you guys deal with this as you must be getting the fallout from this policy.

For example when I used to check a hob it was a pan of cold water on the burner to mimick flame chilling and measure with FGA if below 30ppm it was a pass. Boiler was full inspection, FGA and flue integrity, case cover off etc

 

[Aquarius]

Cmdda1 is the qualification you’re talking about. Each appliance is tested separately, and you’re right about the alarms, but sometimes you have to investigate, suppose it depends on the company. However, given you’re probably not allowed to spend a great deal of time in a property, then I doubt very much your employer will want to pay for the qualification, additional equipment, or your time. Each test is 30 minutes, if needed. Also if investigating appliances, you’d need relevant qualifications.

 

[richard978]

Sounds like you now need this to follow the gas emergency on CO activation. More certs you have to pay for and no different really from working on an appliance.

What strikes me now is they just bringing in more hurdles for good gas engineers doing their properly and not enough to stop poor practices.

All these big companies that run service contracts that have an army of engineers sticking FGAs in boilers without even taking the case cover off. Ignoring little water leaks that could very easily be condensation from a seal or flue gasket. How many times have you heard of engineers tweaking the gas valve to get the ratio right without even looking at why they were out in the first place. I went to emergency last night .....big brown stain running down the elbow on the flue....last bloke sealed it with silicone after customer complained of water dripping......it beggers belief.

I do my fair share of private jobs but I'm sort of glad I'm not fully self employed looking at the state of things.