A FUMING Bellsmyre man has blasted his local housing association after bungling contractors botched an inspection leaving him with a dangerous boiler.

Electrical contractors working on behalf of Bellsmyre Housing Association (BHA) inspected the boiler at Kenneth McGarry’s Barrwood Hill home, when one of them cut the boiler’s flue before patching it up.

However, when Scottish Gas was carrying out separate work shortly after, an engineer spotted the patch by chance and condemned the “immediately dangerous” boiler – which could have leaked lethal carbon monoxide into Mr McGarry’s home.

Mr McGarry was told he must give permission for the ageing boiler to be capped or they would have a legal obligation to remove it.

The 28-year-old said: “If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had Scottish Gas come in, I would just have continued to live without knowing.

“If there had been a gas leak which had contained carbon monoxide I hate to think what could have happened, people could have been killed.”

To add insult to injury, Mr McGarry was left without access to a working boiler or hot water until a replacement for the damaged parts could be sourced from Glasgow– which took BHA more than a week to arrange.

Mr McGarry was told this was due to the boiler model dating back to 2000, meaning parts could only be sourced from one warehouse in Glasgow.

Mr McGarry told the Reporter: “It’s not my fault that this has happened in the first place. BHA really did not know what they were doing when carrying out the hatch inspection and you would expect them to. It really does feel as though they don’t care about their residents.”

While waiting for his boiler to be fixed, Mr McGarry was offered vouchers for an electric fan heater however, he feared this would cause difficulties for his asthma condition.

BHA finally fitted a completely new boiler on Friday.

A BHA spokeswoman told the Reporter the association does not comment on individual cases, but said: “I can confirm if a tenant has a heating problem Bellsmyre Housing Association attend as an emergency and repair or make safe. Bellsmyre Housing Association takes an average time of three hours to complete emergency repairs, compared to a national housing association average of over four hours.

“On occasion parts may have to be ordered. In these instances, Bellsmyre Housing Association will advise the tenant when the problem will be fixed and provide suitable temporary heating.”

She added: “Bellsmyre Housing Association wishes to provide the best possible service for our tenants therefore if it takes an unreasonable time to source and fit replacement parts for a boiler we will fit a new boiler.

“In 2016/17 Bellsmyre Housing Association announced the start of a £5m, five year major reinvestment programme as a direct result of the partnership formed with Caledonia Housing Association in April 2016. The five year major repair programme was developed following consultation with tenants and includes new kitchens, bathrooms, windows, door-entry systems and heating upgrades.

“In 2016/17 Bellsmyre Housing Association spent in excess of £1m on housing improvements and have similar investment plans this year, with the investment and improvement of our housing stock continuing over the next few years. This improvement programme will include a significant number of boiler replacements.”

AN ANGRY resident of Bellsmyre Housing Association (HA) was left without a boiler for over a week after it was found to be “immediately dangerous” as a result of engineering work.

Kenneth McGarry, 28, who has lived at Bellsmyre since May 2017, contacted the housing association after a visit from Scottish Gas had informed him that his boiler was not fit for purpose and could potentially produce lethal carbon monoxide.

The electrical contractors Hislop had previously made a cut into the boiler’s flue when carrying out an inspection hatch on behalf of Bellsmyre HA which had since been patched up.

However, due to this cut in the flue, Scottish Gas condemned the boiler and issued Mr McGarry a safety warning which classified the boiler as “immediately dangerous”.

Mr McGarry was informed that he must give permission for the boiler to be capped or they would have a legal obligation to remove it.

He, said: “If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had Scottish Gas come in, I would just have continued to live without knowing.

“If there had been a gas leak which had contained carbon monoxide I hate to think what could have happened, people could have been killed.”

Due to its unsafe condition, Mr McGarry was left without access to a working boiler or hot water until a replacement for the damaged parts could be sourced.

However, due to the boiler model dating back to 2000, the parts could only be sourced from one warehouse in Glasgow meaning Mr McGarry faced over a week without a working boiler and hot water before a new boiler was fitted on Friday.

He said: “It’s not my fault that this has happened in the first place, Bellsmyre really did not know what they were doing when carrying out the hatch inspection and you would expect them to. It really does feel as though they don’t care about their residents.”

While waiting for his boiler to be fixed, Mr McGarry was offered vouchers for an electric fan heater however, he feared this would cause difficulties for his asthma condition.

A spokesperson for Bellsmyre HA said: “I can confirm if a tenant has a heating problem Bellsmyre Housing Association attend as an emergency and repair or make safe.

“Bellsmyre Housing Association take an average time of three hours to complete emergency repairs, compared to a national housing association average of over four hours.

“On occasion parts may have to be ordered. In these instances, Bellsmyre Housing Association will advise the tenant when the problem will be fixed and provide suitable temporary heating.”

“Bellsmyre Housing Association wish to provide the best possible service for our tenants therefore if it takes an unreasonable time to source and fit replacement parts for a boiler we will fit a new boiler.

“In 2016/17 Bellsmyre Housing Association announced the start of a £5m, five year major reinvestment programme as a direct result of the partnership formed with Caledonia Housing Association in April 2016. The five year major repair programme was developed following consultation with tenants and includes new kitchens, bathrooms, windows, door-entry systems and heating upgrades.

“In 2016/17 Bellsmyre Housing Association spent in excess of £1m on housing improvements and have similar investment plans this year, with the investment and improvement of our housing stock continuing over the next few years. This improvement programme will include a significant number of boiler replacements.”

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