WARNING NOTE: Imitation WASK Gas Equipment Products

Crane BS&U is aware that products purporting to be manufactured by WASK, including full kits, main structural castings and safety critical spares, are being offered for sale in the UK.

There is also evidence to suggest that a number of companies or people are offering to provide maintenance, refurbished kits or selling used WASK equipment without the appropriate certification or approvals after testing.

In light of a number of incidents on the UK Gas Distribution Network in recent years and the scrutiny of the HSE’s follow-up investigations, it is critical IDNs, their main contractors and sub-contractors are aware of the existence of these non-OEM products and services.

The non-OEM products are not aligned with Crane’s quality standards and have never been tested or approved by Crane for use on live gas operations. Their use could potentially cause a customer’s product to malfunction and result in serious safety issues and endanger life.

Crane has a rigorous training and audit process for approving authorised maintenance providers. This assesses the company, employees, facilities, safety, spares and associated tooling to ensure that they are competent to issue an authentic test certificate after any maintenance. Please be aware therefore, that any personnel that move to a new location or company MUST re-apply to Crane for re-certification and that their old certificate is no longer valid.

Crane has engaged with the largest contractors to implement a training and audit programme which grants them authority to gain approval for maintaining their own WASK equipment fleet under special authorisation, on the condition only OEM parts from our authorised distributor are used. In addition we have previously offered a ‘trade-in’ facility to permit customers to replace non-OEM bases for WASK bases at reduced prices.

Regrettably, these programmes have gained little or no traction and the situation remains largely unchanged.

In a reflection of our concern about this activity in the market place, we have recently engaged in legal proceedings with businesses who have breached the use of the WASK trade mark for WASK Teeset, Bagset & Bypass components and kits.

However, we believe this practice still exists and non-OEM parts/products and unauthorised maintenance facilities continue to be utilised within the contractor base working on behalf of the Networks.

We are aware that non-OEM products can appear to be identical to genuine WASK parts and in some cases unlawfully include our trade mark and other identifying markings. To avoid purchasing non-OEM products by mistake we recommend:

Crane will not accept any liability for any malfunction, damages or safety incidents that may occur as a result of the use of non-OEM components, products or unapproved maintenance.

Thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter and if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at the e-mail address below: wask.equipmentnotice@cranebsu.com

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