Gas Safety - Change of Law
From 1 April 2009 developers, landlords and employers should check that anyone carrying out work on gas appliances or flues is registered under the new Gas Safe Register.
CORGI registration will no longer carry any statutory force. There is no grace period.
In the commercial sector, a failure to check that an installer is registered under the new Gas Safe Scheme will be a breach of Building Regulations 2000 and Regulation 3 of the Gas Safe (Insulation and Use) Regulations 1998.
In addition to these breaches, residential landlords (including those in the social housing sector) will breach Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Insulation and Use) Regulations 1998 if their regular gas appliance checks are carried out by a person who is not registered on the Gas Safe Register.
A person who intended to install a new gas boiler or heater and who was registered with CORGI but not the Gas Safe Register as of 1 April 2009, would have to comply with the Building Regulations 2000 and give a building notice and, if required, submit full plans to the local authority’s building control department.
There has been little publicity to date about the practical effects of these changes. For example, if you have a long term contract to carry out gas safety inspections and maintenance, check now that your contractor will be registered under the new scheme and ensure from 1 April 2009, that you keep records of their new registration.
