Posted By halesowen Baggie
Below is taken from the acop l56 which goes with the regs. Paragraph 45 is interesting.
Guidance
43. All gas installation businesses, including self-employed gas installers, are (subject to the limited exceptions in regulation 3(4)) required to be in membership of a 'class of persons' approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), whether they carry out such work as their main or part activity. Gas fitters who are employed by a member of an approved 'class of persons', but who do separate work on their own behalf, need to be in membership of such class of persons, eg CORGI-registered, in their own right.
44. At the time of publication of this ACOP/guidance, the only body with such approval is the Council for Registered Gas Installers - CORGI (although other organisations may apply to HSE for consideration to act as a registration body if they so wish). CORGI's address is 1 Elmwood, Chineham Business Park, Crockford Lane, Basingstoke, Hants RG24 8WG (tel: 01256 372200).
45. Anyone who does work on a gas fitting or gas storage vessel must be competent to do so, whether or not they are required to be a member of an approved class of persons. Therefore, do-it-yourself installers and those performing favours for friends and relatives all need to have the required competence. The level and range of competence should match the full extent of work done, but needs only to be sufficient for and relevant to that work. Employers of gas fitting operatives are also required under regulation 3(2) to ensure that their employees have the required competence for the work undertaken; in addition to ensuring they are properly experienced and trained (see paragraph 47), this involves ongoing monitoring of performance standards, as necessary.
46. The duty to ensure gas installers are competent extends to other employers and self-employed persons with control over the work concerned, eg certain contractors, and those requiring work to be done in a workplace under their control. Where there is more than one dutyholder in a particular situation, close liaison is essential to ensure requirements are met, eg through proper check procedures. Information on the scope of work a CORGI-registered gas installer is competent to perform may be obtained from the installer certificate of competence (issued under the certification scheme referred to in paragraph 47) or where, under transitional registration arrangements, no certificate has yet been issued, from CORGI - see also regulation 4 concerning duty to check for membership of an HSE approved class of persons.
47. Competence depends on a combination of training and experience. The HSC ACOP Standards of training in safe gas installation provides guidance both on the scope of training and the need for proper assessment/re-assessment of gas fitting operatives (see Appendix 4). Although failure to observe any provision of the Code is not in itself an offence, that failure may be taken by a Court in criminal proceedings as proof that a person has contravened a particular regulation. The ACOP extends to gas installation work at premises excluded from these Regulations but subject to the HSW Act sections 2 and 3 - see paragraph 42 and Appendix 3. The nationally accredited certification scheme introduced in January 1998 requires individual gas fitting operatives to have their competence assessed at five-yearly intervals by a certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
48. Regulation 3 extends to work on portable or mobile space heaters, eg LPG cabinet heaters (where done at premises subject to the Regulations), see paragraph 11. As gas storage vessels are not 'gas fittings' within the meaning of these Regulations, the changing of cylinders, filling of storage tanks or fixing in position of such tanks does not require membership of an HSE approved class of persons, eg CORGI registration. However, people involved in these activities, or any of those covered by the exceptions in regulation 3(4)(a)-(b) (concerning certain 'like for like' hose/regulator replacement activities, such as where used/worn items are replaced) need to have the required competence and ensure that they follow instructions, eg given by the gas supplier/appliance manufacturer, as appropriate. Where other work is involved, eg installing or replacing an LPG tank requiring work on service pipework or other gas fitting(s), it should be carried out only by someone who is in membership of an HSE approved class of persons, eg a CORGI-registered installer, with the required competence (see also regulation 2(6)(c) regarding exceptions for certain work on gas appliance control devices primarily intended for use by the consumer).
49. Regulation 3(8) requires manufacturers of caravans, holiday homes or inland waterway boats to be used in situations in which the Regulations will apply to ensure employees who install gas fittings (or who do subsequent maintenance or repair work) are competent, and to take reasonable steps to secure safety once their products are taken/retaken into use. Manufacturers should take reasonable steps, eg by arrangements with their supply outlets and dealers, to establish, as best they can, the intended use of their products and whether the requirements in regulation 3(8) will therefore apply. Whatever is the case, manufacturers also need to bear in mind other, more general, duties under health and safety and consumer protection legislation, and, in their own interests, it is recommended that they use the same standards of gas installation in all their products, and have quality control procedures to ensure that this is the case. In addition to the installation of gas fittings themselves, other relevant factors, eg location and size of flue and ventilation openings, need to be taken into account.