I received a letter this morning from CORGI detailing the “next step” as they call it in what they are terming their “Complete Safety Initiative” which, in my opinion, are nothing short of a money-making exercise and totally unnecessary. Of course at this stage the details are not clear but the one that will affect repairers is as follows;
“Introduction of Gas Work Notification – from 1st April 2005 you will be required to notify CORGI whenever you install or exchange a gas appliance in a residential dwelling within the United Kingdom, for which there will be a small charge. To further enhance the credibility of CORGI registered installers, CORGI will then send a declaration of safety to the homeowner”
Sorry but as a CORGI registered repairer and installer I never agreed to extra charges nor have my customers. Is this a case of customers and clients being penalised for owning or wishing to have a gas appliance? Does this apply if we have to disconnect and then re-connect for a repair, so far that detail is unclear?
So I hope that the UK is ready for a huge increase in gas servicing and installation costs as this will force the increase purely on the additional charges, the already ludicrous training costs and the additional administration required to service this new “safety scheme”.
I would also like to see the figures that justify this scheme and the reasons that it has been put into place, CORGI offer no explanation for it in their letter.
However, in my eyes it will remain a prime example of political correctness gone insane and of greed.
Kenneth Watt