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Gas Safe Register replaces CORGI register
15th April 2009
Last year, the Health and Safety Executive announced changes to the gas installer registration scheme in England, Scotland and Wales. The scheme operated by CORGI was replaced on 1 April by the new Gas Safe Register operated by Capita.
The Gas Safe Register is the only gas installer registration scheme approved by the HSE from 1 April under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
All gas installers wanting to undertake domestic gas work in Great Britain from 1 April therefore need, under those Regulations, to be registered with this new scheme in order to be able lawfully to carry out any work on gas fittings, which includes gas appliances. There is no period of dual running of the CORGI gas register and Gas Safe Register, and no grace period.
Gas Safe Register will maintain an up-todate register of gas installers who are qualified to install or repair gas fittings and appliances. It will have systems in place to check the competence of gas installers, inspect their work and to deal with complaints about unsafe gas work.
The operation of the Gas Safe Register will be overseen by the HSE as the regulator with responsibility for gas safety. This means that from 1 April, in order to ensure that gas installers are lawfully able to carry out the gas work, domestic users of gas should ask for a Gas Safe Registered Engineer and not any other. The CORGI register will no longer count for those purposes.
The new gas safety brand, which was commissioned by Capita, has been signed over to the the HSE, which will hold it in trust to ensure that it will remain the official mark for the gas safety register. Gas Safe Register is focused on gas safety and will campaign to raise public awareness of gas safety risks associated with using illegal gas installers.
Capita has committed to achieving 40 per cent unprompted brand recognition for Gas Safe Register by October this year.
Geoffrey Podger, Chief Executive of the HSE, said: "We welcome the development of this new brand which will focus exclusively on improving consumer gas safety, and believe it will be a cost effective scheme for installers. We urge the industry and other stakeholders to do all they can to support its promotion to consumers as the 'hallmark' of gas safety."
Gas Safe Register will provide a service allowing registered engineers to report gas work that is notifiable under the Building Regulations.
