CO detector inspection

We can offer a survey of your property for £42.00 (£35.00+VAT). If our engineer finds that any carbon monoxide alarms are required within your property, there is an additional cost of £36.00 (£30+VAT) per alarm. These will be fitted at the time of the service in order to satisfy the requirements of the legislation.

Above was a communication from the estate agent that handles a rented property for me. It is in response to new legislation for tenancies commencing September 2024. No problem with the cost or the service but I wonder what sort of “engineer” will conduct the survey?  Chartered, MIET, fire safety professional, or just a fella in a beat-up white van who fixes door locks, dripping taps and does a bit of garden tidying etc? 

Methinks the title “engineer” has next to no value in some quarters!

Parents
  • Surely the safety of combustable appliances is something any landlord would get covered by instucting a gas safe registred plumber - who would almost certainly charge more than £35+VAT.

    Not sure if CO alarms are in the scope of a gas safety check - but if you asked a plumber they would probably do it anyway.

    It's not the title "engineer" that's a problem. The title "doctor" isn't a protected title but it's an offence to incorrectly suggest you're registered with the GMC. It would be potentially fraud by misrepresentation for someone to wrongly suggest they're a chartered engineer for financial gain.

    The question is about competence. The problem being highlighted here isn't the misuse of the term engineer, it's the providing of advice at a bargin basement price which is given by someone who may not competent to provide the advice - they might well be competent but the title "engineer" doesn't help whereas a term like "gas safe registered engineer" is more useful.

  • Surely the safety of combustable appliances is something any landlord would get covered by instucting a gas safe registred plumber

    Not necessarily. Safety depends on all sorts of things - e.g. not blocking air vents of flues or covering with fabrics is the sort of thing that ordinary persons are expected to attend to. Likewise it's not rocket science to check whether there's a CO detector present and superficially at least in a working condition.

    Not sure if CO alarms are in the scope of a gas safety check

    I think it usually is - but even so I see no harm in pre-empting the check. If I had a car with a flat tyre or a cracked windscreen, I'd get it fixed before taking it for an MOT.

       - Andy.

  • If I had a car with a flat tyre or a cracked windscreen, I'd get it fixed before taking it for an MOT.

    What if you had a laceration in the sidewall of a tyre? You might not know about that if it was on the inner wall.

  • It would be potentially fraud by misrepresentation for someone to wrongly suggest they're a chartered engineer for financial gain.

    In theory, but it is a notoriously difficult offence to establish. Various scams are probably the best example and I very much doubt that Plod would go after a fake engineer.

    A civil remedy may be a better option, but then again, if the miscreant has no funds and is uninsured, where will the money come from?

    "Electrician" is a similar occupation, which has little meaning until you come to he question of registration. And if your purportedly registered electrician makes a right bodge of e.g. a CU replacement, what are you going to do about it?

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  • It would be potentially fraud by misrepresentation for someone to wrongly suggest they're a chartered engineer for financial gain.

    In theory, but it is a notoriously difficult offence to establish. Various scams are probably the best example and I very much doubt that Plod would go after a fake engineer.

    A civil remedy may be a better option, but then again, if the miscreant has no funds and is uninsured, where will the money come from?

    "Electrician" is a similar occupation, which has little meaning until you come to he question of registration. And if your purportedly registered electrician makes a right bodge of e.g. a CU replacement, what are you going to do about it?

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