Since 1 April 2009 anyone carrying out inspections or work on gas appliances or flues must be on the new Gas Safe Register. The Register replaces the previous CORGI registration scheme and will be maintained by Capita, who have been awarded the gas safety contract by the Health and Safety Executive for the next ten years.
CORGI registration no longer carries any statutory force and landlords should ensure that any engineer carrying out work on gas appliances or flues is on the new Gas Safe Register, or risk breaching the Gas Safety (Insulation and Use) Regulations 1998. This applies to commercial and residential landlords (including registered social landlords) alike.
Given there was no grace period, there has been very little in the way of prominent publicity concerning this important change. Landlords who have entered into long-term contracts with companies to provide gas safety inspections and servicing should check at once that their contractors have registered under the new scheme.
Members of the new scheme will display the Gas Safe Register logo (right) and landlords should look out for this. Before any work is carried out, landlords should ask the engineer for a sight of his Gas Safe Register ID card.
Landlords can find or check a Gas Safe registered engineer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online at www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk, or by calling 0800 408 5500.
