DIY Gas Fitting

[Dan]

DIY Gas fitting is not recommending. This includes the installation of Gas appliances such as cookers and fires etc.

Always use a gas safe registered plumber for all your Gas plumbing requirements.

 

[stuart010378]

DIY Gas fitting is also Illegal, and unless you are CORGI regestered you would even be able to buy the parts.

 

[fuzzy]

you dont have to be corgi registerted to buy parts????

 

[fizzput]

Thought you could do something your appliance in your own home but doing anything to appliances in any other property was classed as 'work' paid or not and thatis what you need corgi reg for?

 

[fuzzy]

The regs state that to do any work on gas you must be competent to do so.

work on your own home is illeagal unless you are competent
work in someone elses for no gain - competent but not corgi
work for gain - corgi

competent =ACS qual

 

[buster]

Hi, If you carry out any work on gas in your own home or anywhere else and you are not competent to do so you face being reported to RIDDOR by your gas supplier or a competent person you have working after you, and you will be prosecuted under U.K. laws

Buster

 

[dennis.bailey]

Hi, If you carry out any work on gas in your own home or anywhere else and you are not competent to do so you face being reported to RIDDOR by your gas supplier or a competent person you have working after you, and you will be prosecuted under U.K. laws

Buster

this isnt strictly true, you would actually be reported to CORGI.. the only reason i personally would report back to the HSE (RIDDOR is the form you fill out) is if the work, be it by someone who was qualified or not is deemed unsafe, and as such is a danger to people. i.e someone who is completly uncompetent.

I have actually heard of people working illegally being caught by CORGI and just been given the chance to change there ways and join up to CORGI...

 

[wj12]

this isnt strictly true, you would actually be reported to CORGI.. the only reason i personally would report back to the HSE (RIDDOR is the form you fill out) is if the work, be it by someone who was qualified or not is deemed unsafe, and as such is a danger to people. i.e someone who is completly uncompetent.

I have actually heard of people working illegally being caught by CORGI and just been given the chance to change there ways and join up to CORGI...

If you moved a gas pipe in your own house and you did that job by the book you can not be prosecuted by the HSE because the installation would not be dangerous. The law says you have to be competent and I do not recall anybody being prosecuted for doing a job in their own home only in incidents where there has being gas leaks ect. DIY work is a grey area
DIY gas work?
Also how can you prove when a particular job was completed or who completed it.
Corgi are more interested in catching people who do gas work for payment and are not registered corgi installers. The problem with corgi is that the cost to installers to qualify and keep qualified encourages the public to employ cowboys who do the job cheaper, and as long as nothing goes wrong they will get away with it.

 

[fuzzy]

you can be prosecuted by HSE through the gas regs as opposed to the RIDDOR regs.
the gas regs say you must be competent to work for no money ie. your own home, i agree, if the job is done well youd be unlucky to be prosecuted as you can claim you are competent and they are unlikely to chance it going to court. if the job was dodgy but a dangrous occurance hasnt happened you could still be prosectued under gas regs, say, no ventilation, no sleeve, incorrect fle termination, speed fit joints etc etc

 

[365drills]

I agree with all the above but was told that for DIY the term competent was the legal term.

And apparently it is really hard to define competent in court because it means different things to different people.

I guess the bottom line would be that if a DIY person moved a gas pipe and as a direct result of the work the house blew up at a later date and people died, then that person would have a difficult task proving he or she were competent.

However if the same person did the work and there was no incident and the work was neat and tidy and met all requirements then it would be difficult for a court to prove the person was incompetent.

However I would still advise using Corgi qualified people to do the work because gas is so dangerous.

 

[mcmoby69]

if you are moving a gas pipe you need to be competent to
a. solder it or know when and where a compression fitting can be used
b carry out a letby and tightness test

to fit a boiler you need both of the above+
pipesizing+gas rating+flue analasis(FGA)

for a gas fire you also need flue flow test experience etc etc
so just because people can solder a joint does not make them competent.

🙂

 

[HTB]

Just out of curiosity, could sosmeone tell me the name or title of the legal document/act of parliament/statutory instrument/building reg or whatever it is that specifies and lays down the law in this area.

Been a "wet" plumber for 4 years now and I am thinking of doing my gas ticket, (I've been assessed by and registered with Corgi under Part G for what it's worth), and I am now considering doing the fast track course early next year. I suppose reading up on the source of the regs wouldn/t be a bad place to start.

 

[Mike Jackson]

Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 2451

 

[HTB]

Thanks Mike.

 

[copperspropper]

Hi, If you carry out any work on gas in your own home or anywhere else and you are not competent to do so you face being reported to RIDDOR by your gas supplier or a competent person you have working after you, and you will be prosecuted under U.K. laws

Buster

im all corgi gsf and the laws a joke the only way it will stop is any gas critical parts have to be bought through registered engineers we might as well use gas council numbers and bar codes do you agree

 

[Deleted member 2053]

Some of the horrors I have come across since I became an RGI suggests that sadly 'competence' can be more about a piece of paper than a standard of workmanship! Still at least if you have employed a registered operative you can be blown up in the happy knowledge that someone else's insurance will pay your funeral costs.

The most common to date seems to be the installed gas fire where the feed is not properly tightened and gas is escaping up the flue. No-one smells anything except the slightest whiff under adverse air movement conditions and the soundness test drops like a stone. (Presumably the installer overlooked this small detail.) In one property it came to light when the main was relaid in the street. After it was repaired their gas bill dropped by 1/3 (and they had full gas CH). Been like that a good few years. Good job they never employed a roofer. If the guy had sat on the stack for a smoke he could have had a short and bitter lesson in rocket propulsion technology.

About six years ago I heard of a gas examiner who would get you through any assessment if you crossed his palm. I trust there are none out there now, but you can never be sure can you? Power corrupts!

 

[HTB]

and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

[jobsrus]

you dont have to be corgi registerted to buy parts????

you do at reputable trade outlets, i.e.Plumb center, but yes boilers and any fittings can be purchased at most big retail D I Y stores

Thought you could do something your appliance in your own home but doing anything to appliances in any other property was classed as 'work' paid or not and thatis what you need corgi reg for?

thats partly true but if your house blows up and takes next doors you would be looking at a posible jail sentance if they proved you had not done it to corgi standards

 

[feltham]

right so tell me how i stand. i have just done the gas core and boiler corse and passed both but my registration is to where i work but i want to install a new heating system in my house would i be compentent to do so or am i ment to still get a corgi (gas safe) plumber in to install the boiler?

 

[danielp]

well being passed your competent just ask the company if you can use there number really they should trust you ? !!

 

[dosters]

DIY Gas fitting is also Illegal, and unless you are CORGI regestered you would even be able to buy the parts.

Totally Agree with Stuart

____________
Home Automation, Zigbee, Smart Energy from Vesternet.com

 

[Bernie2]

I was CORGI registered before I retired and had all the then current ACOPS.

But what people never say, is why the whole registration issue came about. Namely what happened at Ronan Point.

The industry undoubtedly needed bringing up to date, but as I recall I don't think there where all that many more gas accidents before the registration scheme came about than there where afterword.

And anyway, how about electricity? That is still largely unregulated and how many accidents happen with that?

As I said, I am all for registration and qualification, but the prices have to come down for those courses. Small firms and individuals can struggle to afford to pay for a full set of ACS every five years. And if registration is for safety reasons, it makes sense to make courses that help qualify you for registration, as cheap as possible to get as many people registered as possible.

But then if the courses are too cheap the colleges will drop the courses. I would say lets have an industry wide levy on all involved in the industry, to pay to keep the course fees down and the colleges open.
It seems to me that gas supply companies rake in millions if not billions, surely they can spare a few bob to help those who make it possible for people to safely use gas?

You could even have a levy on gas prices of say 1/000 of a p per therm and open new collages. I feel sure the punter would not mind, even perhaps throw in free gas checks for everybody, paying the contractor from the levy.

All together you could probably make the courses free and help gas safety no end.

Oh! Aye what about the water companies as well?

Trust a scouser to cause trouble!!

🙂🙂

 

[migoplumber]

all work on gas, be it lpg or natural, is covered by "the gas safety (installation and use) regulations (GSIUR) 1998.

quote 3.1
"no person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so"
quote 3.3 (partial)
no employer, employee or self employed person shall carry out any such work unless the employer, employee or self employed person as the case may be IS a member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the health and safety executive"

the approved body was corgi.
now the approved body is the gas safe register

from the fifth edition GIUSP
"competance in gas safe installation work requires gas operatives to have enough knowledge, practical skill and experience to carry out the job in hand safely, with due regard to good working practice. knowledge must be kept up to date with awareness of changes in law, technology and safe working practice"

now you have to interpretate that!
my view is i can prove my competance, however without your ACS's you are unable to join an approved body... therfore unable to work on any gas installations!!

you can read the gas regs on line from most librarys. its a mind gobbling read, and some points are still open to interpretation, and there are exceptions.

shaun

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

The thing is, GasSafe registration as far as I have read does not ask for ACS's.

They have gone back to the old CORGI assessment method of going out and looking at your jobs to see whether you know what your doing or not.

Basically isn't that what an ACS's does but in a classroom?

DIYers as far as I am aware can do gas work in their own home, if they are competent to do so, providing its not for money. As to proving the competence of a DIYer well that is another thing.

I doubt you will ever stop it either, because if you brought in laws banning what a person can do in their own home, your on the dodgy ground of state control of the individuals freedoms.

If the DIYer caused harm to another through the incompetent installation or repair of gas works in their own home, then under the law they are responsible and can be fined and imprisoned the same as a gas engineer can.

But if he or she competently installs stuff and it accords to the Gas Regs there is nothing you can do about it.

As to selling gas spares! Well you may be able to buy them, but you can't fit them. The onus passes from the seller to the buyer. So really they should be freely available to anybody.

Don't forget gas fires and cookers. Who chooses them and buys them? I would say house wives or home husbands not gas fitters. And nobody is going to buy a cooker or fire from a gas fitter if they don't have too, why would they want too and possibly pay extra for the handling?

The sad fact is, you hear on the news about all the rip offs that are going on. One woman not so long ago paid something like £150 for a new £2.50 thermocouple change job.

So unless gas fitters can sell the goods cheaper than buying from a shop, will people buy from them?

On balance I think the GasSafe scheme is a good idea. Make it simple and easy for anybody to join and get their work inspected. If a DIYer does a job, let them get it certified by GasSafe for a small set fee. It would make more work for all the gas industry that way.

 

[Jason.S]

We have a similar issue with Part P. Anyone can do electrical work anywhere, providing they can prove competence, and one way is registering with a scheme.

Only trouble is there are 5 schemes to join and they are all competing against each other.

NICEIC are winning still, but only just.