A reminder on sanctions and suspension

The vast majority of gas engineers are registered, qualified and highly competent in their work. But those who do not reach the usual high standards or who do not comply with Gas Safe Register’s rules of registration and policies may face sanctions and suspension.

The Register may impose sanctions on any registered business or individual engineer where there has been a breach of the rules or policies. The types of sanction that may be applied include removing registration, and suspension from either the Register or from specific work categories.

During December 2023 and January 2024, more than 650 businesses were suspended or notified that they will be suspended from Gas Safe Register. Additionally, HSE issued five Immediate Prohibition or Improvement Notices in December 2023 against those who did not comply with the requirements of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

A registered business may be suspended in the following circumstances:

  • Failing to demonstrate or apply gas safety competence
  • Working outside the scope of work categories of registration
  • Not rectifying defects identified via a Defect or Building Regulation Non-Compliance Notice
  • Failing to allow inspection
  • Service of a ‘Notice of Contravention’, Improvement or Prohibition Notice, or prosecution by HSE
  • Formal agency, eg, Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), notification of an engineer representing a present danger to the public
  • Failing to attend any investigations when requested, following concerns raised about the gas work carried out.

Where sanctions are applied, Gas Safe Register will provide guidance to the business and/or engineer explaining the criteria that will need to be satisfied to enable them to be lifted. These criteria may include demonstrating competence through inspection; showing that adequate management of gas work provisions is in effect, and providing evidence that additional specified training or reassessment has been undertaken successfully.

You can read and download Gas Safe Register’s Sanctions Policy here.

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