AIBU to refuse gas safety check apt on an evening?

[CrimsonLipstickOnMyGlass]

I'm genuinely not sure if I'm being unreasonable or not, basically my landlord use a plumber from the town where he lives which is over an hour's drive away, because the plumbers usual business is in the town where he lives he does not like to come to my town as it means he will be losing 2 hours worth of working time (while driving) which he will not paid for.
Because of this the plumber will not come here unless he has another job nearby or it's outside of his normal working hours, this means I either get a phone call saying 'I'm outside your house right now' or 'i will be in a few hours' meaning he expects me to drop whatever I'm doing and run home even if I'm at work, or he wants to come on an evening, usually with less than a day's notice.

Last year my gas safety check was due in August of 2014 but because of how difficult the plumber is, arranging the appointments was near impossible and it ended up not being done until January 31st 2015 which was in my opinion completely unacceptable and lead to bad feeling between the landlord and myself (as he viewed me resistance to an evening apt as unreasonable).
This year I tried to arrange the gas safety check before it was due but the landlord failed to get back to me. 6 days after it was overdue I came home to find a note from the plumber saying that he had been in the town and came to do the gas check but there was nobody in. The landlord is getting annoyed because he doesn't want a repeat of last year, neither do I, but again, the plumber refuses to come during the working day, I gave him several options of days that I would be in but he didn't even bother to get back to me to let me know that he was unwilling to come on those days.
This afternoon I received a text message which said ''can I come to do the gas safety check tomorrow night???''

AIBU to say no? I know it needs doing and it's urgent as it's overdue again and I do not want a repeat of last year, however, I do not like the idea of it being on an evening, I know that sounds really silly but it just makes me feel uncomfortable think a stranger in my house on an evening, I would just feel much more comfortable if it was during the day.

Is it normal for tradespeople to insist on working on an evening?

Would you allow a tradesperson to dictate that they will only come on an evening or would you allow an appointment on an evening such as this?
I could really use some MN advice on this.

Thank you

This afternoon I received a text message which said ''can I come to do the gas safety check tomorrow night???''

So you have had 24 hours notice, are worried it might end up overdue like last year, but don't want to let the man in because an evening appointment makes you feel uncomfortable.

You are well within your rights to say no this as it should be written notice, letter or email, but not text. Also, the right of access is “during normal daylight hours” usually 8 am - 5 pm, Mon - Fri. However that will probably only lead to the LL arriving with a court order and a Gas Man.

That landlord is likely to issue you notice as soon as he is legally able to do so.

So, you have to work out what is more important to you. Your underlying discomfort with the idea or good relationship with a LL who sounds as though he is trying to be reasonable.

Threads like this make me extra thankful for our reasonable tenants.

Wait for the clocks to go forward (very soon now) and then get him to come round before it goes dark. An evening appointment, but in daylight. Sorted.

the gas safety check is one of the very few reasons that a landlord can enter the property without tenant permission, although of course notice and pre-arrangement is preferable.

liaise with your landlord, perhaps he can let the gas safe person (hopefully not just a plumber!) in? Or change gas safe person, as this one does appear to be incapable of basic admin like making appointments.

and to the landlord who seems a bit confused; it is smoke alarms that are now mandatory. CO alarms are only mandatory in properties with solid fuel appliances, although it is good practice to have them in places with gas appliances. Learn the law of your business.

Yep Gas safety checks are definately for tenants safety.

Just one of the 54 reviews from the fb review page for Liberty Gas.

"Had a perfect working boiler until these clowns turnd up. Broke my boiler and then stated never had the parts to fix it and left my boiler leaking. 2nd visit and the guy stripps it and then tells me he does not have the right part and will reorder. 3rd visit and the guy tells me the last guy left us in danger leaving parts of and allowing steam/'smoke pouring into my house plus my ceiling is now damaged from the amount of water dripping filling the bowl thru the day and overflowing but still not fixd. 4th visit and still no parts with this guy but he gaffa taped my mouthwash lid onto boiler saying that should stop the fumes comeing out the trap. Nope it fell of as expected as gaffa tape will not stick to water. My boiler is still broken a month later and now ther just ignore calls and have no plannd revisits to fix what they broke in the 1st place. WHAT A JOKE DO NOT LET THESE COWBOYS INTO YOUR HOME"

Not the same thing, Helena.

The safety checks are to protect the tenants.

Poor service is for Trading Standards and the small claims court.

Sorry, Helena, that was bit snippy. In my defense I had just come from a really combative thread - again, apologies for the snarkiness of that post

Agree but the contracts are worth a LOT of money so you get companies trying to outbid each other to get these contracts with the HAs

Its a bit more than just poor service when an engineer uses a mouthwash lid to stop boiler fumes.

This is the google reviews page

www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=liberty%20gas&lrd=0x487b18fb0257e91d:0x8bdccefd4230c92c,1,,

No worries Blanche Been on a couple of threads like that myself lately

Op, the safety checks are to ensure you and your family live in a safe home. Why would you risk your safety in this way? Do you work evenings? Is that the reason you are unable to allow access in the evening?

IMHO if something did happen the LL has a case in that you refused to allow the plumber access to do the safety checks. It seems LL is trying and you sound to be making it as difficult as possible.

if a gas safe reg engineer really did something that bad, he/she needs to be reported to gas safe ASAP.

yes, gas safe checks ARE for tenant safety. Shocking, eh? Never having anything checked is a privilege reserved for home owners.

The LL is probably on a deal with the gasman to do all his properties at a reduced rate.

So LL wouldn't want you to get someone else to do it as it would cost him more.

If you really want it done in the day then get quotes from other gasmen, talk to your LL, and offer to pay the excess in price.

Gas Safe have said there is nothing they can do until something actually happens when i spoke to them last year about the stuff thats going on.

God you sound difficult!

What time is he proposing to come?

I think your anxieties are not objectively reasonable. I'd take the evening appointment and arrange to have a friend over/on the phone if that'd make you feel better.

YABU and silly.

My Mum had to get a court order once to get a gas safety check done. Turns out the reason the tenant didn't want her in the property is that she had removed the boiler and central heating system and sold it 😱😱😱. Then took another 5 months to evict her and she brought up in court that she hadn't had any hot water for 8 months...

But I do agree YABU - it's for your own safety so just let the man in and have a friend come round if you don't want to be on your own

I'm not trying to be difficult, i have given the plumber a list of days which i can there.
He will not prearrange an appointment, he will only call on the day he is wanting to come or the day before (this has only happened twice, this time being the second time) to tell me he can come.

last year i basically made it so that he could come any day but he said he could only come at night and refused to come during the day. I did try to accommodate him but it wasn't like he made repeated attempts to arrange the apt, there were maybe three or four days in the six months where he called to say he was in the area, I on the other hand called, emailed and wrote to the LL weekly trying to get it done but he just wouldn't do anything other that tell me to sort it out with the plumber, in the end I had to contact the council and threaten to report him if it wasn't done by the end of the month, it was done on the 31st.

I am happy for the landlord to come and let him in when i am out but he will not do that, he is very useless which is why it took months to get it done last time.

I have nobody that can come over on an evening to let him in and I can only be there during the day until 6pm, but he will not come before then.

I accept everything everyone has said and so I sent him a message this morning and told him that if he can come before 7pm he can do it tonight, my neighbour is going to keep an eye out for him if he hasn't been in the next 15 minutes and she is willing to use the spare key and let him in if he comes before 7, but she will be busy after that.

If the last check was done on 31/1/15, it's already well overdue! I'd be very concerned if I was in your shoes and would be granting him access pronto!

Hmm you never mentioned being out in the evenings previously because that would have been reasonable

In fact just checked your op and you stated the reason you don't want an evening appointment is that it makes you uncomfortable. Funny how your story has changed now everyone has said yabu

So you cancelled 3 or 4 times to arrange it last year and your doing the same this year. I bet your landlord loves you!

I agree the story change is a bit strange too!

I think you are being unnecessarily obstructive. The ll is at risk of he doesn't get this done, you know why the plumber won't just come over and you must appreciate how much he loses driving to your town? (although this is not your concern as it's the ll choice)
You know it's due, so are prepared to be visited. Why is the plumber less likely to do you harm during the day than at night?
It is a pain but they are only ensuring your safety.

I had 2 hours notice once that our gas man was popping in. Didn't think to question as I knew it was because some work had been done and they were working for our safety. As it was there was a leak which was not detectable by nose so bloody vital!

A stranger being in my house at night alone makes me uncomfortable, yes that is the reason why i do not want him to come at night. during the day I can be home or I can ask a friend to come wait in but I don't know anyone who could come to let him in at night so I would have to leave a key for him to let himself in and I am not comfortable with that.

I didn't cancel four appointments last year, twice he called or texted with no prior warning to say he would come now if i was home, which I wasn't, once just turned up unannounced (when I wasn't in) and left a note saying he called and once he called to say he would be in the area the following night, which is when it was eventually done.