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Gas Safe news
FROM THE EDITOR
Comment
Now that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is under way, the next few months may start to provide some real insight about whether consumers really have the appetite to switch from their trusty gas boilers to heat pumps.
The fuel-cost crisis is likely to muddy the waters. With the cost of living and gas prices already high – and with the promise of more energy price hikes to come in the autumn – people are focusing on keeping their costs under control and not spending their hard-earned money where they don’t need to.
Consumers have largely been ignored in the plans for a low-carbon economy, leading to one heating manufacturer calling for a consumer education platform to ensure a ‘technology-fair’ approach that doesn’t focus on a single low-carbon technology to the exclusion of others.
The £5,000 BUS grant certainly won’t cover the full costs of changing a gas boiler for a heat pump, particularly when essential fabric upgrades will need to be carried out in many homes in order for heat pumps to function efficiently.
That could mean that the only people who are willing to chuck out their boilers are those high-income households that can afford to.
Nicki Shearer, editor
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: Carl Banister, Stephen Gallagher, Jonathan Palmer Production: Mark Turpin Advertising enquiries only: Ian Carter ian@rgemagazine.co.uk
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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.
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 2021 80,070
Get your free Gas Safety Week toolkit
The Gas Safety Week 2022 supporters’ toolkit is ready and waiting for you when you support the industry’s biggest annual gas safety campaign.
If you’ve used the toolkit before, you’ll know that it’s packed full of useful images, messages, social media updates, posters, leaflets and copy for your website, all specially created so that you can use different elements quickly and easily.
You’ve told Gas Safe Register that you’d like more animation and images to use with social media stories, so the new toolkit contains lots of these for you to share on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The design of many of the materials has a fresh new look, paying special attention to accessibility, colour, and contrast.
This year’s focus will be
Make sure you’re using the correct standard
A reminder from Gas Safe Register’s technical team about the importance of working to the right standards – and where you can find any help and additional information you need.
Whenever you carry out gas work, it’s important to make sure that it is done in the correct manner. You can ensure this happens by working to set standards, which are laid out in industry-reviewed documents and produced by standard-writing bodies such as British Standards Institute (BSI), Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM), and Liquid Gas UK (LGUK – formerly UKLPG).
Each standard is reviewed periodically and updated where necessary. Rules may differ for different installations because some Building Regulations are specific to different geographical areas of the UK. Important: you should always be aware of the latest versions of each standard. The latest version of all the relevant standards can be found in the Legislative, Normative and Informative document list (LINDL) produced by Gas Safe Register, published on its website. The LINDL is updated every three months and you can read it by logging into your Gas Safe Register online account as well as in Registered Gas Engineer magazine (see pages 32-36 this month).
To help you stay up to date with all changes to relevant standards, Gas Safe Register produces an Industry Standard Update (ISU) whenever a standard
Get your free Gas Safety Week toolkit
‘Get in the Know’. As well as reminding people to get an annual gas safety check by a registered gas engineer, there’s information on knowing what problems to look out for, spotting the signs of an unsafe gas appliance, not blocking essential ventilation, and never DIYing with gas.
GSW22 is just two months away, and the often quieter summer months are a great time to think about how you can get involved in this year’s campaign in any way that suits you best.
You’ll be joining thousands of other gas engineers and organisations across the country, uniting to help keep people safe.
You can find out more and sign up to receive the free supporters’ toolkit at:
www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk/ gas-safety/gas-safety-week
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WIN: Stay safe from electricity and win with Martindale
All wrapped up
Did you spot anything different when you received this month’s issue of Registered Gas Engineer magazine? We’ve made the switch to a sustainable paper wrapper to send the magazine to your home or business address.
Although our previous polywrap and paper were both recyclable and themselves made from recycled material, we want to do even more to make this magazine as sustainable as possible, while recognising that many engineers have told us that they prefer to receive a printed magazine rather than read it online.
The ink and glue used in our production processes are also biodegradable.
Make sure you’re using the correct standard
is changed. ISUs are also printed in this magazine (see pages 21 & 22 for ISUs 110 and 111) and available in your online account.
Gas Safe Register also provides a Standards Subscription service, which gives you access to 80 essential main gas safety standards. This service is available for businesses that employer 10 engineers or fewer.
We know that most engineers have training manuals too – however, it’s important to make sure that you always have the latest version to ensure the information is up to date. Even then, it’s possible that some information may have changed since publication.
If you need any specific information and you are unable to access the required standard, you can always contact Gas Safe Register’s technical team, who will assist you as best they can.
You can call them on 0800 408 5577 or email your question to technical@
gassaferegister.co.uk
Key points
• Ensure you are following the most up-to-date standard • Check that any training material you reference is still relevant • The LINDL lists the latest version of each standard • The Standards Subscription service provides access to 80 of the main standards • If you are in any doubt, contact the technical team, either by phone or email.
Your registration questions answered
Gas Safe’s consumer experience manager Alistair Pearson shares some of the questions that the Register receives – and the answers.
What should I do if my customer is concerned about their gas work before I visit?
If your customer is worried, they can contact Gas Safe Register. The Register will assess the situation and carry out an inspection if required. Depending on the circumstances, it may follow up further with the gas engineer who carried out the work. The work must have been carried out less than six years ago.
If you find unsafe gas work, make it safe and report it to Gas Safe Register, which will base its investigation on the information that you provide. You can report a concern for competence by logging into your Gas Safe Register online account: choose Resource Hub and then ‘Raise a Competence Concern’.
If you think the gas work has been carried out by an illegal fitter, please choose Report Illegal Gas Work. Don’t forget: you should report dangerous gas work to HSE via RIDDOR if it could cause a fatality, major injury or cause a person to need to go to hospital. If the work is gas fittings and so not covered by RIDDOR, please report this to Gas Safe Register by raising a competence concern.
Does Gas Safe Register provide a book for the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure?
No. The Unsafe Situations Procedure (IGEM/G/11) is owned and published by IGEM. You can download a free digital copy of the latest version when you log into your Gas Safe Register online account, and you can also download it from IGEM.
Traditional hard copies are available from a range of sellers but it’s a good idea to check that you’re referencing the most recent edition, which is why the Register recommends that you check for updates online regularly.
Under the rules of your registration, you are required to hold a copy of the document – in a hard or digital copy, or a stored link to its location – and to show that you are applying the requirements and guidance of the most current edition.
