The business has just been shortlisted as a finalist for the Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year award on account of its fast growth and revolutionary mission.
In this interview, Paul Durose, CEO and founder of Gas Tag, sheds light on fraudulent practices in the gas safety industry, how Grenfell has exposed flaws in the UK’s “tick-box culture” and the links between carbon monoxide and dementia.
IFSEC Global: What did the gas safety industry look like before Gas Tag?
Paul Durose: I’ve been in the construction industry since the age of 17. I set up my own business in 2007 working on large-scale social housing contracts, working mainly new build and regeneration projects.
In 2010 I created a heating division within the construction business. That’s where my interest and passion for gas safety began.
When I set up a heating division in my construction company, I learnt that the industry was in desperate need of innovation. I also learned that it only takes a couple of ‘cut corners’ for major issues to arise.
We were interviewing people who had been on 4-6 week-courses to become gas safety engineers – it was like getting a driver’s licence. And I’d ask them if they were ready to go out and start working, and despite being qualified, they’d say: “Hang on, does that mean I have to go out on my own?”
So they’d go off to complete the works, but we had problem after problem.
“I used to see engineers filling in certificates from previous jobs – when they probably weren’t even on site!”
I used to go around the office car park on a Friday afternoon and see engineers filling in certificates from previous jobs – when they probably weren’t even on site!
How would I know that they were doing the work that they were supposed to do? They got paid £50-£60 per certificate, and some of them were handing in 20-30 certificates a week.
IG: So there would be no proof they were on site doing the work?
PD: None whatsoever. And we were receiving phone calls from tenants saying: “I’ve been waiting in all day for my gas safety certificate to be done at the property.”
And I would say: “Hang on, I’ve got a certificate from the gas engineer to prove that the work has been done.” So when I confronted the engineer, I could see him squirming trying to figure out the best answer. And then he said: “I must’ve just done the next doors by accident. I’ll have to go back and do theirs now.”
IG: Were these just a few bad apples, or were these issues arising across the UK?
PD: There are 23.2 million homes in the UK with gas, and I’ll give you some really daunting figures. There are 1.1 million jobs that get done every year by illegal gas fitters. In 65% of these cases, gas appliances were left in an immediately dangerous condition.
On top of this, Which? secretly filmed 10 qualified engineers over the space of two years. Five of these were from small businesses and 5 were from large companies, including British Gas. Shockingly, 8 out of 10 engineers broke the law with regards to what they are legally allowed to do.
Some of them didn’t even do anything. They just filled in the certificate and then received payment from the customer then and there. They repeated the experiment again a year later and seven out of 10 engineers broke the law. So, there are some fundamental issues in the industry.
IG: So how does Gas Tag improve this process?
PD: If you’re a qualified gas safety engineer, you download the app and put in your national insurance number, your Gas Safe identification number and business registration number. At which point we have an API call to the database to verify in real time that this person is not only qualified, but is also qualified to work on certain appliances.
Just because you’re a gas engineer it doesn’t mean you’re qualified to work on ovens, hobs, fires and boilers. In the background, every 24 hours, we check that that engineer is still qualified. If your qualification is set to expire in the next three weeks, you’ll be notified to take a refresher course and qualify again.
On the property side of things, there’s a small microchip tag – which is where the name Gas Tag comes from. It goes around the gas meter pipe which feeds into the property.
“We use the same technology as Oyster cards”
We use the same technology as Oyster cards, used on the London Underground, so that when the engineer arrives at the property, he touches his device against the tag. That engineer is then geo-tagged to prove that they were there on site at that specific time.
The engineer must take photographs – which are also geo-tagged. The app takes the engineers through a series of questions so that they don’t miss anything.
Once the engineer has answered all the questions, the gas safety certificate is generated. This information is uploaded to an online dashboard providing evidence to the landlord that they’ve met their legal obligations.
The app also allows the engineer to call the tenant, report any important information – like a vulnerable tenant, and provide proof that access was attempted if even if it was unsuccessful. Access issues cost the housing sector quite a bit of money. Our technology helps to reduce some of these costs.
IG: So the technology actually implements an element of safety that wasn’t there before?
PD: Exactly. What we’ve seen from Grenfell, for example, is that we live in a tick-box culture. The UK housing sector is in a state of denial when it comes to gas safety.
Compliance should be a by-product of safety, not the other way around. We recently ran a survey and spoke to 162 people from housing associations, local authorities and gas industry experts across the UK.
What we’re seeing is that many associations still take comfort in being technically compliant. In other words, as far as they are concerned, they are carrying out the necessary tasks to satisfy the regulators.
Gas safety is rightly at the top of their agenda. But there is a worrying trend towards compliance for the sake of it, which in some cases can be little more than a box-ticking exercise.
IG: Is the problem just with gas appliances?
PD: Gas is only scratching the surface. Electricity is just as bad. We’re also applying the same technology to electricity called ElecTag.
In fact, there are more people that die in the electrical industry than gas. But because gas is the one legal requirement that landlords must have checked each year, we decided to focus on gas first.
Over 40% of smoke alarms in the UK don’t work. The same applies to carbon monoxide detectors.
There’s an epidemic of dementia right now and early research suggests there may also be a link to over exposure to carbon monoxide. And carbon monoxide poisoning comes from gas appliances that haven’t been fitted correctly or maintained.
All houses now, especially apartments, are airtight, because everyone wants to keep the heat in. But what happens when you keep the heat in is you keep all the dangerous gases in as well.
You can meet Gas Tag’s CEO and 120 other Lloyds Bank National Awards innovative finalists at the awards ceremony on 13 November at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Click here to secure your seats.
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
