A Yorkshire construction company and its director have been fined after building work exposed a family to the risk of a gas leak, fire and explosion, leaving them without gas for several weeks.
Adam’s Building Construction Ltd was hired by a homeowner in Bradford to build a rear extension, with work beginning in January 2024.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the extension had been built over existing gas pipes and that the company failed to properly relocate the flue serving the property’s gas boiler.
“This exposed the family to the risk of gas leaks, fire, explosion and carbon monoxide poisoning,” the HSE said.
The watchdog said local authority building control inspectors had warned the company several times that the gas pipework and flue needed to be relocated correctly.
The council subsequently contacted Northern Gas Networks, which found the gas installation to be “immediately dangerous”, according to the HSE. The boiler remained operational, while its flue was discharging into the newly built extension.
The gas supply was eventually disconnected, leaving the household without gas for several weeks. The homeowner incurred around £4,000 in costs to rectify the problems, the HSE said.
The HSE also found that the company’s sole director, Mohammed Adam Azhar, could not demonstrate that construction phase plans had been prepared for the firm’s building work.
The inspectorate issued an improvement notice requiring the company to establish a system for producing written construction phase plans when acting as principal contractor.
However, Adam’s Building Construction failed to comply with the notice, which was an offence under Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The HSE also said Azhar personally failed to provide information required during the investigation, resulting in a further offence under Section 33(1)(e) of the Act.
Adam’s Building Construction Ltd, based on Leeds Road in Bradford, pleaded guilty at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 7 August to breaching Sections 3(1) and 33(1)(g) of the Act.
Azhar, of Intake Road, Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 37(1) and 33(1)(e).
The director was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay a £400 victim surcharge. The company received a £10,000 fine and was ordered to pay £4,263 in costs, according to the HSE.
HSE inspector David Beaton said: “This was a tragic accident waiting to happen. The failure on the part of the company and its director to properly plan this building work, and to make suitable arrangements for relocating the gas pipework and appliances, could have easily had fatal consequences for the family living in the property.
“Those failures were compounded by the further failures to comply with an HSE improvement notice, and to provide relevant information to assist our investigation.
“Everyone in control of domestic building work must ensure that a suitable and sufficient construction phase plan is in place before building work commences so that no one faces the kind of risks this family were exposed to.”