Of course DIYers should not be installing gas units or doing electrical work they are not competent to do. But even a DIYer might have thought about carbon monoxide.
The summary of facts says Gary Hale, a registered plumber and gas-fitter who co-owns Laser Plumbing Alexandra with Cartwright, was employed by the Walker family to install a gas hot water unit in a portable bathroom.
The family then decided the shower unit should be moved to their holiday home in Haast. Walker installed an identical gas unit in the unit, using the same fittings Hale had installed and Cartwright had signed off
They WERE the professionals! Professionals do not necessarily mean well done. like the other one that blew up that house in Ch/ch. also gas.
gazzat22,
Jan 23, 11:16am
To my mind the words Professional and Expert are the most overused and inaccurate words used today.!
lyndad59,
Jan 23, 11:17am
The one in ChCh he forgot to tell them Not to turn on the fire !
tweake,
Jan 23, 11:23am
don't think so. you don't rely on the customer doing something. ie you cap it off so if someone turns it on its still safe.
if i remember right he didn't check for leaks after disabling or fixing the fire place.
tweake,
Jan 23, 11:26am
to many badly trained industries. some of the things i used to see the pro's where worse than the amateurs. at least the amateurs took their time and bothered to find out how to do it.
amasser,
Jan 23, 11:54am
Article states "Cartwright had signed off." but apparently he didn't. Does it explain why a second unit was needed?
nzshooter01,
Jan 23, 12:38pm
I didnt read the link just going on your comments So the family bought a second unit and installed it in there bach useing the same fittings and method that the plumbers used in there house for the initial instalation. How does that make the plumber liable? Am i missing something?
funkydunky,
Jan 23, 12:49pm
C'mon mate, you can do it
tweake,
Jan 23, 1:24pm
gas fitter signed it off as if he installed and inspected it.
kitkat66,
Jan 23, 2:33pm
Reminds me of that old joke. Man jumps out of a plane pulls the parachute rip cord, and nothing happens. As he's falling he sees a man flying upwards. He calls out "Do you know anything about parachutes". The man replies " no, I don't know anything about gas boilers either".
marte,
Jan 23, 5:17pm
So, if I understand it correctly, the gasfitters never actually installed the unit in the shower cubicle that the boy was using when he died.
But they are being charged regarding the different unit that they installed in Walker’s home in Alexandra. ?
The one in Haast was never installed or inspected or certified by a professional at all.
brightlights60,
Jan 23, 5:41pm
Point is, no tradesman should ever sign off on something if he did not do the work. Hubby is sparky. We would be rich if we let people "just run the wires and get him to sign off on it". Nah.
bergkamp,
Jan 23, 10:48pm
i thought this too after reading it . how can the gasfitter be liable ? liable for the original work that wasnt inspected by his superior - but liable for work he never did . or am i reading it wrong?
marte,
Jan 24, 1:34am
Just looks like a badly written article by someone who didn't proofread it to eliminate any double inferments. Ie, misleading news reporting.
pauldw,
Jan 24, 6:27am
The shower cubicle is a separate building that was moved. The certifier is being charged for approving the initial installation that never should have been done. The 1st heater got a split pipe possibly from freezing up.
joanie04,
Jan 24, 10:18pm
That is what I understood to have happened.
My late father always used to give this definition of an "expert". X is an unknow quantity and spurt is a drip under pressure. I believe he stole it from the Retail Motor Trade newsletter that used to be published.
lythande1,
Jan 25, 7:43am
I'm off to court this morning over a shower install. Builder (hired by plumber who was the one who took job) wasn't registered and drank on job. Plumber was a tradie but not actually ceritifying. although that's a bit picky. But he sure wasn't interested in anything except the money. Quals aren't the issue, it's whether they do the job well or not.
pauldw,
Jan 25, 9:17am
For that sort of work why would the builder require any registration?
gazzat22,
Jan 25, 10:28am
Two Words "Leaky Homes"
pauldw,
Jan 25, 12:09pm
If it doesn't need a building consent it usually doesn't need an LBP. Assuming no loadbearing walls are being shifted
I still don't understand why. Exactly. Ok I understand the signing off of work that has not been physically inspected by the signed person. But it's not stated the the plumber knew it was intended to be used as a bathroom. Quote { The bathroom was initially used at Walker’s home in Alexandra while his property was being renovated. A shower, basin, toilet and sliding window were later added} So it wasn't a bathroom untill the bathing facility's were installed, up to then it was just a stand alone shed. Extra plumbing must have been done to fit these items.
Even after that, it was modified by replacing it with another unit by a unqualified person, and then never inspected or signed off on by a suitable qualified person. No mention of other modifications that must have been made to this for it to be fitted. Or how the CO gas got into the unit since it was previously vented to the outside.
bill1451,
Jan 31, 8:09pm
was the unit designed to be installed on the outside wall of the bathrooom unit.
atlantis3,
Jan 31, 10:07pm
Writen on the unit it stated Not to be installed inside. The unit was incorrectly installed inside the shower unit.
mrfxit,
Jan 31, 10:16pm
It's a decades on quote from many sources. No idea when it started but it's a goody
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.