Gas leak foundafter HElegal action

Kevin McDowell, Customer Services manager explained the consequences of not having your boiler checked and why the Housing Executive may take legal action to gain access.

He said: “While we realise people are busy we would ask that you make every effort to be available when engineers call to service your boiler.

“If this is not possible please contact us as soon as possible and we will try to rearrange a more suitable date and time.

“We recently had a case where, after numerous unsuccessful attempts to gain access to a tenant’s home to service their boiler, we had to take legal action to gain access.

“When we gained access we discovered that the boiler actually had a gas leak. This highlights the potentially dangerous position the tenant had put their own household, as well as tenants of neighbouring properties, in by failing to allow the Housing Executive to carry out health and safety inspections.

“We hope that all our tenants understand the necessity of having their boiler checked on an annual basis and to this end will work with us to facilitate access.

“Whilst the Housing Executive does not wish to bring legal proceedings against its tenants, it is a step that will be taken to ensure the safety of all tenants and neighbouring communities.”

The Housing Executive has a statutory obligation to carry out annual gas safety checks on premises where it is the landlord.

With the health and safety of its tenants in mind the Housing Executive, as a responsible landlord, also aims to make annual checks on oil and solid fuel appliances, however sometimes gaining access can be difficult.