Technical Bulletin 014 (B) Working within scope of work categories
Developed by TB 014 (B) committee
Date issued: 29 April 2024
This Technical Bulletin provides guidance to Gas Safe registered businesses/engineers on industry standards and competence requirements that apply to gas work activities in different environments, to ensure all gas work is carried out by competent engineers holding the correct work categories.
Introduction
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR)(1) require those undertaking gas work to be competent to carry out the work. The regulations place a duty on the person undertaking the work, their employer and any other business in control of the work to ensure competence. All businesses working within the scope of the GSIUR must be registered with Gas Safe Register.
For guidance, please see the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) as amended and Approved Code of Practice and guidance (L56).
Gas Safe Register’s Rules of Registration Section 2 states the following: Anyone carrying out gas work must:
- a) Be listed against the registered business as an engineer and hold the appropriate registration work categories for the work being carried out. They must have a recognised certificate of gas safety competence for registration in each work category;
- b) Ensure all gas work done meets the requirements of the relevant Health & Safety enforcement agency, in accordance with the current gas safety legislation that is in force in the relevant Health & Safety agency’s jurisdiction ie, Great Britain, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Guernsey and Jersey;
- c) Do so competently.
You can read Gas Safe Register’s Rules of Registration here.
Background
Gas Safe Register regularly receives enquiries to confirm whether an engineer’s work categories cover them to work in different environments. For example, whether a domestic engineer with CKR1 can install a domestic cooker in a non-domestic location, such as a school.
This Technical Bulletin helps to clarify the gas work competency requirements for certain environments and to provide a guide to determine if the environment in which an appliance is installed is representative of the appliance design and safe operation.
It is important that when an engineer is working in different environments from normal that they recognise that other regulations such the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HWSA)(2) will apply as well as the GSIUR, all of which need to be complied with. By holding the correct competence/work categories to match the environment, the engineer will understand how other regulations may overlap GSIUR and how the manufacturer’s instructions interact with applicable standards.
For example, an engineer holding competence in domestic cookers (CKR1), performing gas work on a domestic cookers in a school food technology (home economics) room, should do this work in line with the manufacturer’s instructions, statutory instruments and with due consideration of IGEM/UP/11 Edition 3 – Gas Installations for Educational Establishments(3). Therefore, the engineer will need to have proven competence in relevant non-domestic work categories.
Concession to MIs
It may also be necessary to ensure that a concession to manufacturer’s instructions is in place to confirm that a domestic appliance is suitable for use in a non-domestic environment, where it does not clearly state this in the manufacturer’s literature, and similarly that a non-domestic appliance is suitable for use in a domestic environment. You can find the form to request a concession to manufacturer’s instructions by logging into your Gas Safe Register online account.
This Technical Bulletin is in line with current guidance provided from relevant standards and ACS Matters of Gas Safety and may be subject to change. It will be updated periodically to reflect any industry changes and is not retrospective.
You can follow the flowchart below to confirm whether or not you hold the correct work categories to carry out gas work.
Risk assessment: installing, servicing and maintaining domestic gas appliances in different environments
Use this flowchart to determine if the environment in which the domestic appliance is installed satisfies the domestic work category requirements.
Risk assessment considerations
Is the appliance installed in an environment for which it is designed? (General design, appearance, heat input, etc.)
If installing an appliance, do the manufacturer’s installation instructions allow the appliance to be installed in the intended environment?
Where an engineer is to install an appliance in an environment other than the type it is intended for, guidance must be sought from the manufacturer, and the request for concession to manufacturer’s instructions form may be required.
Is the appliance installed on a stand-alone basis within the immediate environment?
Ie, not part of an installation incorporating other appliances such as a modular boiler system, a commercial catering environment with other catering appliances, etc.
Is the gas installation downstream of an isolation valve within the scope of the current IGEM/UP/1B(4)?
Only applicable if it is necessary to interrupt the gas supply to the whole installation.
Frequently asked questions
Q: If there are multiple domestic boilers installed in a single room that are individually less than 70kW but have an aggregate heat input exceeding this, can you carry out work on this installation with only domestic qualifications?
A: A domestically qualified engineer holding CENWAT can work on an installation of a maximum of two individually flued room-sealed domestic boilers with individual ratings of 70kW or less installed in a domestic premises.
Q: Can a domestic engineer carry out work on a domestic boiler in non-domestic premises?
A: A domestic engineer holding CENWAT can work on a domestic boiler regardless of the building type, as long as the part of the gas installation being worked on is within scope of the current IGEM/UP/1B(4) (ie, a U16 meter or smaller, 35mm pipework or less, and an installation volume of less than 0.035m3) and there are no other non-domestic appliances in the same room.
Q: Can a non-domestic engineer work on a domestic boiler in a non-domestic environment?
A: To work on a domestic boiler, a non-domestic engineer would need to hold the relevant changeover category and CENWAT.
Q: Can a domestic engineer holding CKR1 work on a domestic cooker in a catering premises?
A: Where a domestic cooker is installed in a non-domestic premises alongside other catering appliances, it falls under the scope of the current BS 6173(5). The engineer would need to hold a relevant commercial catering work category.
Q: Can a domestic engineer holding CKR1 install/service/maintain domestic cookers in a school food technology (home economics) room with multiple domestic cookers installed?
A: No. The document covering educational establishments (IGEM/UP/11) gives guidance that when multiple domestic gas cookers are installed in a food technology (home economics) room then the installation should comply with the non-domestic catering standard (BS 6173)(5) and interlocked as per current IGEM/UP/19(6). The engineer would need to hold a relevant commercial catering work category.
Bibliography
(1) The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
(2) The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
(3) IGEM/UP/11 Edition 3 Gas Installations for Educational Establishments
(4) IGEM/UP/1B Edition 3 (with amendments October 2012) Tightness testing and direct purging of small Liquid Petroleum Gas/Air, Natural Gas and Liquid Petroleum Gas installations
(5) BS 6173 2020: Installation and maintenance of gas-fired catering appliances for use in all types of catering establishments (2nd and 3rd family gases) – Specification
(6) IGEM/UP/19 Edition 2 Design and application of interlock devices and associated systems used with gas appliance installations in commercial catering appliances
Note: Gas Safe Register Technical Bulletins and the Legislative, Normative & Informative Document List can be viewed by logging into your online account.
