Checks reveal substandard gas appliances
of doing without heating, cooking or hot water appliances for a couple of days.
‘‘What they want is peace of mind,’’ said Wallace.
The gas fire in question was in an alcove with less than 100 millimetres clearance each side, when the required distance from walls was 450mm. ‘‘It was a definite fire risk.’’
In another case a hot water system was too close to a window.
Wallace said problems arose when renovations were carried out after a gas appliance was installed, and the tradesperson or homeowner doing the work was unaware of the regulations.
The cause of the Christchurch explosion, which occurred the day after work was done on a gas fire, is still under investigation and prompted huge demand for service checks with waiting lists of six to eight weeks in come centres.
Wallace said he was aware of appliances that had gone unserviced for up to 20 years even though some gasfitters sent customers reminder notices to get checks done over the summer.
‘‘It might be as low as 20 per cent of appliances out there are serviced as per the manufacturers’ guidelines.’’
Master Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers is running refresher courses on gas servicing in five cities and all had been heavily subscribed.
Wallace said the industry was short of about 3000 tradespeople and the amount of unauthorised work being done was unknown.
Over the past four years Worksafe’s Energy Safe team has referred 12 complaints to the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, eight for unauthorised gasfitting. Over the same period Energy Safe issued 12 infringement notices, 119 warnings (principally for failing to properly complete certification) and took one prosecution.
In May, Tauranga gasfitter Patrick Dykes was sentenced to four months community detention after a home was badly damaged in a fire caused by the incorrect installation of a gas fire in a timber frame cavity.
Wallace said the industry was anxious to find out if changes were needed based on any preliminary findings about the causes of the Christchurch incident, and it did not want to have to wait until the end of a lengthy official inquiry.
A Worksafe spokesman said it would alert relevant sectors if it came across any pertinent information in the course of the investigation into the Marble Court explosion that seriously injured six people, destroyed one house and damaged more than 20 others.