Bradford building firm fined after botched extension put family at risk of explosion
A Bradford building company and its director have been fined after botched extension work exposed a homeowner and her two children to the risk of gas leaks, fire, explosion and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Adam's Building Construction Ltd was hired by the homeowner to build an extension at the rear of her property in Bradford, with construction beginning in January 2024.
However, the extension was built over existing gas service pipework without it being relocated.
The flue serving the property's gas boiler was also not repositioned, leaving the family exposed to potentially serious risks.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) later found that Adam's Building Construction Ltd had been warned several times by local authority Building Control Inspectors during the work that the gas pipework and boiler flue needed to be properly relocated.
On May 22, 2024, a Building Control Inspector from Bradford Council visited the property and discovered that the boiler flue was terminating inside the extension.
Northern Gas Networks was contacted and found the gas installation to be immediately dangerous, with the boiler still operating and its flue discharging into the extension.
The property's gas supply was subsequently cut off, leaving the residents without gas for several weeks.
It cost the family around £4,000 to put the problems right.
As part of the HSE investigation, the company's sole director, Mohammed Adam Azhar, was unable to demonstrate that Adam's Building Construction Ltd had prepared construction phase plans for any of its building work, which was carried out exclusively for domestic clients.
The HSE subsequently served the company with an Improvement Notice requiring it to introduce a system for producing written construction phase plans for projects where it was the principal contractor.
The company failed to comply with the notice, an offence under Section 33(1)(g) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Mr Azhar also failed to provide relevant information when required to do so by the HSE's lead inspector, an offence under Section 33(1)(e) of the Act.
The court heard that neither Adam's Building Construction Ltd nor Mr Azhar continues to work in the construction trade.
Adam's Building Construction Ltd, from Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) and Section 33(1)(g) of the Act.
On August 7, 2026, at Leeds Magistrates' Court, the company was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,263.
Mohammed Adam Azhar, from Bradford, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37(1) and Section 33(1)(e) of the Act. He was fined a total of £1,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £400.
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.”