Here we have stores selling "pumps" and all kinds of gas appliances to ANYONE who is able to walk through the door thinking they can get a crash course from these shop keepers in blue jeans.

Some gas appliance manufactures are a joke in my humble opinion when it comes to really caring about safety.

Sure I get the thing to paste on hot water heaters informing of the dangers of storing flammable materials near by and how hot water can burn DUH!!!

The Gas Association Manufacturers America (GAMA) sent me some great comic books and a star treck star talking about heater safety But yet they condone the DIY places selling this stuff .. HEY GUYS TALK IS CHEAP.

Yes, I read the ASME and the National Boiler Inspectors Code (NBBI) and AGA and all the other tid bits out there concerning the proper installation, BUT then I go to a hardware store or department store and see these potential death traps being sold to ANYONE and everyone.

Amazing how big cities like New York would allow plumbers to self inspect their own work and file same BUT ANYONE can buy a hot water heater and install it IF they are NOT licensed without a care in the world about codes or permits.

I would think some brain dead manufacturer would say HEY the folks need these appliances regardless WHO installs them.

LETS make it mandatory that to buy this type of equipment you require proof of a license LIKE buying a gun or driving a car. As all of these can kill if handled and installed improperly.

I know when I went for my hunting license I had to show PROOF of taking a hunting safety course (I never go hunting I just like knowing its there if I ever want to)

The insurance companies don't seem to care if a home owner does it himself because if it does explode they say "see how dangerous gas can be RAISE the premiums of anyone working on it"