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Gas Safe News
FROM THE EDITOR
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The Green Homes Grant was withdrawn at the end of March, just six months after it had started. It had come in for a good deal of criticism, not least by the government’s own Environment Audit Committee, which described its implementation as botched and called for a major overhaul – just days before it closed.
What went wrong? Was it the lack of installers willing to put themselves through the red tape of the required accreditation process? The knock-on effect on consumers, who couldn’t find an installer when they wanted one? Or was it that many of those who had carried out work found themselves out of pocket because of delays in payment?
The result was that just 10 per cent of the scheme’s 600,000 first-year target installations were achieved.
The government says funding will now be diverted to local authorities, extending the Local Authority Delivery Scheme and targeting low-income households.
But stop-start incentives and ever-changing policies are a problem. We know the ambition and appetite are there for people to consider a shift to low-carbon technologies. But scaling up delivery at the rate needed to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050 will only come when people can have confidence that things won’t keep changing.
Nicki Shearer, editor
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Gas Safe Register, PO Box 6804, Basingstoke, RG24 4NB.
Email: enquiries@gassaferegister.co.uk, register@gassaferegister.co.uk or technical@gassaferegister.co.uk Managing editor: Scott Darroch scott.darroch@gassaferegister.co.uk Editor: Nicki Shearer editorial@registeredgasengineer.co.uk News: Jennie Ward news@registeredgasengineer.co.uk Publisher: Peter McCreary publisher@registeredgasengineer.co.uk Technical consultants: Gary Aymes, Carl Banister, Graham Kidd, David Smith, Jonathan Stirling Production: Mark Turpin Advertising enquiries only: Ian Carter ian@rgemagazine.co.uk
The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Gas Safe Register. The publishers will accept an advertisement or other inserted material only on the condition that the advertiser warrants that such advertisement does not in any way infringe copyright or contravene the provisions of the Trade Descriptions Act. All copy is subject to the approval of the publisher, who reserves the right to refuse, amend, withdraw or otherwise deal with advertisements submitted to it at its absolute discretion and without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the British Code of Advertising Practice. ABC membership approved 19 March, 2009. Calls to phone numbers starting 084 and 087 cost up to 7p per minute plus your service provider’s charge.
Registered Gas Engineer is written, designed and published by The Team on behalf of Gas Safe Register. 30 Park Street, London, SE1 9EQ
CIRCULATION: Jan-Dec 2020 77,332
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How do we know what you need?
service, and about preserving the expiry dates on landlords’ gas safety records. We’ve included these articles because you’ve recently contacted the Register for clarity or for more information.
Similarly, the Technical Team get a lot of enquiries from gas engineers – that’s what they’re there for – and if a specific query crops up repeatedly, then the magazine works with them to write articles that provide more information. This month, the Technical feature on leisure accommodation vehicles is included because the Technical Team have been asked for more information about gas equipment and motorhomes, but also because the easing of Covid-19 restrictions means a return to holidays that are more likely to be taken in the UK.
The Technical Team also work with industry committees and external stakeholders including manufacturers to write and update the Industry Standard Updates and Technical Bulletins that are critical for you to stay up to date with any changes in standards or guidance. We know how highly you value this information through analysis of visitors to both this magazine’s website and that of Gas Safe Register.
Gas Safe Register’s Open Channel events are a way that you can have a conversation with the Register about wider industry topics that affect you. Whether you send questions in advance or you ask them during the event, the expert panel aim to cover the things that you want to know. Recent topics have included the updated guidance on Unsafe Situations, the role of LPG and hydrogen. We always follow up these discussions with more in-depth information in this magazine too.
But one other big contributor to the shape of the magazine is you. Every month we receive dozens of photos of the gas work you’ve found in the course of your day and we try to use as many of them as we can. You also get in touch because you want to share your own experiences with others, and in this issue we talk to Derbyshire gas engineer John Allen, who wanted people to know why he thinks it’s important that younger and older gas engineers should work together.
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Reminder to preserve the expiry date on landlords’ gas safety records
Gas Safe Register is reminding gas engineers that the expiry date on a landlord’s gas safety record should be preserved for 12 months, even when the check has been carried out earlier than this.
The Register has heard in some instances that gas engineers carrying out a gas safety record check a month before 12 months have elapsed are then incorrectly filling in the expiry date on ‘next gas safety check due before’ as just a month later, rather than 13 months ahead.
Gas Safe Register guidance states: “Regulations introduced in April 2018 allow a landlord to arrange for a gas safety check to be carried out any time from 10 to 12 calendar months after the previous check while still preserving the original check expiry date.”
It adds: “Where a gas safety check is carried out less than 10 months or more than 12 months after the previous gas safety check, this will have the effect of ‘resetting the clock’ and the new deadline date will now be 12 months from the date of this latest gas safety check.”
