Bad boiler installation is a killer, statistics prove.

Bad boiler installation is a killer, statistics prove.

Fifty people die in the United Kingdom each year from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty boilers or incorrect boiler installations according to Dr. Rob Hicks writing for the BBC.
Carbon monoxide, known sometimes as the 'silent killer', is a colourless, odourless gas with the same density as air which can leak as a result of poor boiler installation.

Known as CO3, it is a product of incomplete combustion of natural or petroleum gas, and below-standard boiler installation is the main cause of its escape into the home.

The gas is present in the exhaust from petrol and diesel engines and is also present in combustion products of natural gas which takes place in all home-installed boilers.

Exposure to the gas in very low concentrations will cause unconsciousness as the blood quickly becomes saturated with carbon monoxide.

Inhaling the gas reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen, leaving the body's organs and cells starved of oxygen and the result of this is death from chemical asphyxiation.

The UK government runs a compulsory registration scheme to ensure that all boiler installation engineers meet the appropriate safety standards set out in law.

Nowadays many general building contractors also hold the correct government approved credentials to perform safe boiler installation and help cut out the cowboys who put lives at risk.

This is seen by many in the construction industry as an attempt by firms to diversify their services in order to meet the challenges presented by the global economic downturn which has hit the building sector of the economy particularly hard.

Hampshire building firm PM Building Contractors, is one such company which has added government approved boiler installation to its range of services.

A spokesman for PM Building Contactors said that it was important for building firms to modernise during the recovery and become one-stop shops for building improvement; from laying bricks right down to boiler installation and central heating.

However, it is absolutely vital that any boiler installation engineer is registered with the government scheme, he added.


Check out Dorset and Hampshire Boiler Installations by Gas Safety Registered PM Building Contractors!