Must you be Gas Safe Registered to do Gas installation? Read HSE's response.

[Reza]

Please see following, an email which I received from the HSE. Colleagues, we need to make a tough stance in demanding for reassessment of these farcical, non coherent and ineffective regulations. On one hand they say we need NOT be GSRed to do works for friends and family on the other hand they require us to complete the benchmark with full details of GSRed installer!! Please help us stand against these daft rules, sign our petition, let’s take this all the way. Reform Gas Safety in UK Petition

Hi Reza,

Sorry I wasn't able to get back to you last night, but you caught me when I was just on my way out of the office.

In terms of the current definition of competence this is captured in COP 20 (see http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/cop20.pdf) - COP20 will be withdrawn as part of the current ACOP review but will be replaced by industry led guidance.

The majority of this definition has been transferred into the new revised L56 (see para 58 of the revised L56) - so it hasn't really changed as a result of the ACOP review.

As we discussed yesterday - although everyone who carries out gas work needs to be competent (see the new para 57 of the revised L56), only those who are a gas engineering business need to be registered with Gas Safe Register (see paragraphs 65 & 66 of the new revised L56).

This position has not changed as a result of the ACOP review. The underlying legislation (the Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations) only require gas engineering businesses (which include the self-employed and sole traders) to be competent AND registered (see regulation 3(3)). Those who are not acting as gas engineering businesses (for example DIY, favours fro friends etc) are only required to be competent. They do not need to be GSR registered.

I know that you and your group find this position incongruous - however the legislation (Gas Safety Installation and Use Regulations) are not subject to this review and are not being changed. The Approved Code of Practice and it associated guidance cannot go beyond the scope of the legislation itself, and so we cannot insist that engineers carrying out DIY/favours for friends should be registered as well as competent.

I hope this has helped to explain our current position but if you need anything else then please let me know.

 

[lame plumber]

i have reported illegals and its come to nothing as the customer has to be the one reporting the problem for it to be taken further, cheap work equals happy custard! the only way it will ever be controlled is for gas and oil items to be restricted at the point of sale, no gsr no sale. easily monitored by noting the gsr no at sale time.

regards competent people doing wend work, if they want to then get up and pay for your own reg no, I do why cant they, why should they work on their employers tickets, additionally if they are doing wend work are they insured, I doubt it. it will take some more explosions before anythings done, ie the whole fire safety regs were only looked at after many people died in Brighton years ago, Im sorry to say but less than 10 isnt going to do anything.

 

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

...... I cannot for the life of me believe that you are still suggesting DIY Gas work is the way to go! ..... As for your blog, I am not sure if it'll be very appropriate to give DIY Gas work a positive connotation, .....

I think most people will think of DIY gas work as being done at home by someone in the family who is not a full time professional "gas man".

I don't think I have given any promotion or positive connotation to DIY gas work anywhere.
Either you are mis reading me
Or
I don't make myself clear (that happens).

But My father in law who fitted and repaired Agas for Forever but retired now did not suddenly stop being gas competent on 1 April 2013 when his GSR was not renewed. He has given up his gas customers but if he had a gas AGA in his own home he should still be able to service it this summer himself.

 

[Reza]

I think most people will think of DIY gas work as being done at home by someone in the family who is not a full time professional "gas man".

I don't think I have given any promotion or positive connotation to DIY gas work anywhere.
Either you are mis reading me
Or
I don't make myself clear (that happens).

But My father in law who fitted and repaired Agas for Forever but retired now did not suddenly stop being gas competent on 1 April 2013 when his GSR was not renewed. He has given up his gas customers but if he had a gas AGA in his own home he should still be able to service it this summer himself.

The whole of the UK's boundaries goe far beyond the area of your locality. You want to take a look at some of the areas where DIY and illegal Gas works take place at an alarming rate. The recorded figure is over 1/4 million a year. How many of those could you quantify as DIY! It would be a mammoth of an administrative task. The only reasonable and logical option is to fall in line, or we'll end up with a two tear system that cannot be controlled and people will end up dying as a result of it.

 

[Reg Man]

The whole of the UK's boundaries goe far beyond the area of your locality. You want to take a look at some of the areas where DIY and illegal Gas works take place at an alarming rate. The recorded figure is over 1/4 million a year. How many of those could you quantify as DIY! It would be a mammoth of an administrative task. The only reasonable and logical option is to fall in line, or we'll end up with a two tear system that cannot be controlled and people will end up dying as a result of it.

Sounds like you are pushing for an authoritarian system. Tara's Dad did not become incompetent when he hung up his manometer.

 

[Reza]

Sounds like you are pushing for an authoritarian system. Tara's Dad did not become incompetent when he hung up his manometer.

I'm not pointing at any specific case or person. I make my point general across the country. A two tear system will result in cases similar to Newark. Now any system that stops that, I welcome. DIY in Gas is a bad idea and promotes Illegal Gas works.

 

[Reg Man]

I think we all agree that incompetent DIY is a bad thing, but this is already covered under the existing regulations, What Tara and I are putting over to you is that the competent gas fitters doing work in their own homes should not be restricted by regulations. As for the Newark explosion it is yet to be revealed of the cause. You can use the Irlam explosion as an example, but unfortunately that was a competent? gas fitter who got hung up for that one.

 

[Reza]

I thought there really was nothing more to say on the subject other than all the reasons which have been posted on this thread so far. Until of course I came across this post which had just gone on this very forum under a different thread. The post reads as follows;
-----------------------------------
Hi all, I have a slight problem that I could do with some advice on. In 2005 I fitted a baxi combi 80e for a family friend. I didn't register the boiler at the time because quite honestly back then I didn't realise I needed to. Now he's selling up and the solicitor is insisting on it. How can I resolve this?
any info would be great!
-----------------------------------

Here is another one of those circumstances, why you need to be Gas Safe Registered to install boilers! I checked with GSR and unless you are Gas Safe Registered, you cannot register a boiler installation and receive all legal documents.

 

[Nostrum]

I had a window fitted at home. Cost me £600. I could have easily done this myself, but I knew I needed a certificate if ever I came to sell the house and didn't want the hassle as buying and selling stressful enough as it is. By the time I paid for the window and a building control inspection, plus the hassle of doing it, I decided to pay someone to do it instead.

if the public were made aware of the certification process, I'm sure they would do the same for gas installations, most, but not all.

 

[tamz]

I thought there really was nothing more to say on the subject other than all the reasons which have been posted on this thread so far. Until of course I came across this post which had just gone on this very forum under a different thread. The post reads as follows;
-----------------------------------
Hi all, I have a slight problem that I could do with some advice on. In 2005 I fitted a baxi combi 80e for a family friend. I didn't register the boiler at the time because quite honestly back then I didn't realise I needed to. Now he's selling up and the solicitor is insisting on it. How can I resolve this?
any info would be great!
-----------------------------------

Here is another one of those circumstances, why you need to be Gas Safe Registered to install boilers! I checked with GSR and unless you are Gas Safe Registered, you cannot register a boiler installation and receive all legal documents.

That post is from a gas safe registered guy (APPlumbing) and was posted in the private gas forum

 

[Reza]

That post is from a gas safe registered guy (APPlumbing) and was posted in the private gas forum

Sorry, perhaps I didn't put it clearly enough, my point wasn't that the firm in question or the person in question was not Gas Safe Registered, my point was to reiterate that there are many potential issues where one would not be able to complete a job, if he or she is simply competent and not Gas Safe Registered. Registration would be one of those circumstances.

 

[Reza]

In actual fact, I have had further clarification from GSR. It turns out that a competent person can register the boiler through buildings control, but (A) The process costs ver £200 and (B) The building regs would require for a Gas Safe Register engineer to sign off the job. Obviously false economy and in contradiction with the L56 current or proposed Regulations.