Having spent what seemed like a lifetime in construction, I was a latecomer to gas, never having worked unregistered. It was a desirable but non essential extension to a list of skills and construction qualifications. What I was not prepared for was the arrogance of Corgi, not witnessed in other areas of construction. That and that alone prompted the creation of a website, years ago.

As a reminder, Corgi (The Council for Registered Gas Installers) is the body currently appointed by the HSE to carry out certain functions on their behalf. There is no reason why Richard Branson, Camelot or anyone else should not apply to run the scheme in the future. Corgi is a private company not funded in part by Government like the Energy Saving Trust for example.

Because Corgi are a private company the HSE decided not to give them any powers (to prosecute etc). Their role essentially is an administrative one only.

The Corgi Group has every legal and moral right to engage in other activities. What they should not be doing is using the Corgi name to further their other business interests, as they routinely do. That was a recommendation made by the HSE First Gas Safety Review and is a condition of Corgi’s new (purely administrative) role with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

They should not in my view be using the word Corgi other than strictly in association with their HSE role. Government should return the Corgi name to public ownership, to restore confidence that has long since been lost.

Curiously there is no ombudsman or other mechanism to adjudicate on Corgi edicts. Something parliaments (plural) many wish to reflect on. There is the Corgi Council but as recent events have proven (GWN), where there is any risk of dissent, they can simply by-pass those council members; An extraordinary state of affairs and singularly undemocratic.

I am concerned to note evidence of bullying showing up in postings at ARGI. That said it is heart-warming to read the support being offered and that is what a professional association is in part about, resisting the absurd and vicious administrative despotism. They have our full support.

Some Gas-News visitors have been around a long time. I sometimes forget how long. Many are new and will not be familiar with past examples of breathtaking arrogance demonstrated by some at Corgi head office. Something I have never put up with and neither should anyone else. ARGI must continue to resist bullying and the bigger they get, the stronger they get.

Having undertaken a few minor jobs for a builder a few years ago, I was asked by the builder to supply passport photographs in connection with his application for company Corgi registration. He was not personally competent and did not employ anyone who was. Most of his work was for a Housing Association and they insisted he become a Corgi registered company.

As it happens he did not need photographs as I was not employed cards-in. All he needed to do was nominate (name) a currently registered gas installer in his application, pay his several hundred quid and he was home and dry. Instant Corgi registration given to a cowboy entrepreneur.

I turned up to move a cooker one day from one house to another as the tenant was being rehoused into a recently modernised HA letting. When I arrived the cowboy entrepreneur had already done the work and later protested that he’d cancelled my visit. Presenting my credentials to the tenant, I explained my purpose and she was delighted to let me refit the cooker correctly, removing the PTFE tape and using gas qualifications that had not long since cost me, with loss of earnings, well over £4000 to obtain.

Naturally I decided to pull out, and being aware of his intentions, wrote to Corgi and instructed them not to accept my name in association with his business. Their written reply was incredible. I was told that providing his application “appeared complete and correct” it would be accepted (along with several hundred pounds of course).

In other words I had no say in the matter. So they naively believed and such is the divine belief they have in their own invincibility. They had fortunately put it in writing and I know that no court in the land would uphold that arrogance.

My MP was able to deal with that easily enough, the builder promptly lost his contract, and I hope I have prevented one or more tenants becoming an unpleasant statistic. The snag is there are no statistics on fatalities and other accidents we may all have prevented.

Has any other registered gas installer unknowingly been pointed to I wonder ? Do Corgi check ? There should be a mechanism to enable us and some recognised authority to check independently, to ensure Corgi are not turning a blind-eye as they were then, to bolster their revenue and self advancement.

My first ‘inspection’ notice arrived as a peremptory demand and I lobbed that straight back over the net, offering dates either side of the demand. On principle I would never accede to any peremptory demand.

If anyone behaves reasonably, promptly and politely to a request from Corgi, the law will always back them up. That I can guarantee. Never give in to corporate bullying.

What we should all start doing as a matter of routine is to respond reasonably, promptly and politely to peremptory letters, making it clear we do not like peremptory letters, and send a copy to our individual MP, including a copy of any peremptory demand. That would quickly have a profound effect if it started snowing paper in SW1A 0AA.