Do you remember the days of “Corgi Registered”?
The Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI) was established in 1970, as a direct result of the Ronan Point gas explosion. From 1991 to 2009, registration with Corgi was a mandatory requirement for gas operatives and businesses throughout the UK under the Gas Safety Regulations 1970. As of 1998, there were approximately 55,000 Corgi registered businesses throughout the country, employing close to 110,000 gas operatives.
What is the Gas Safe Register?
The Gas Safe Register is now the official gas registration body of the UK, replacing Corgi in Great Britain and Isle of Man in 2009 and Northern Ireland and Guernsey the following year. A review of gas safety in 2006 brought the Corgi registration scheme to its end. Therefore, in order to work legally on gas equipment today, all gas businesses and their engineers must be Gas Safe Registered.
A gas engineer can only be issued with a license to undertake gas work on behalf of a registered business and the types of appliances they can work on will vary depending on their qualifications. Registration can be applied for once an engineer has obtained the relevant qualifications and evidence of competence through a recognised training programme.
Why Do Gas Engineers and Plumbers Need to be Gas Safe Registered?
The Register was introduced as a means of protecting the public from dangerous gas work carried out by unqualified engineers. If your engineer or plumber is on the Gas Safe Register, then you can be certain that they are trained and qualified to work safely and legally with gas. This is crucial when you consider the number of deaths each year which occur as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, through faulty or poorly maintained gas equipment.
As well as greatly reducing the risk of incompetence, being Gas Safe Registered is good for the plumbers and gas engineers too. Registered engineers have access to a network of professionals, including technical support specialists, and industry standards at reduced costs. The number of potential customers who search for engineers via the Find by Location service will also raise the profile of the business significantly.
Do you have to be Gas Safe registered to provide boiler maintenance services?
According to HSE, “a non-registered person may carry out ‘wet work’, i.e. install water pipes and radiators for a heating system, but any work on the gas boiler itself and the final connection of the water pipework to the boiler, must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.”
If your gas boiler (or other gas appliance), requires fitting, fixing, or servicing, it is your responsibility to ensure the work is undertaken by a qualified gas engineer for the safety of all concerned.
