Wider legislation: HSWA, RIDDOR and Building Regulations
The general duties, incident reporting and notification rules that sit around gas work.
This topic supports
- M01.4Recognise when RIDDOR reporting and Building Regulations notification apply.
Draft: this lesson hasn't yet been technically reviewed.
GSIUR doesn't stand alone. It sits inside the general health and safety law, alongside the rules for reporting incidents and the Building Regulations that govern how appliances are accommodated in buildings.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
GSIUR operates within the overall framework of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The HSWA places a general duty on everyone at work, employers and the self-employed, to make sure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that what they do (or fail to do) doesn't put other people at risk.
Two practical consequences:
- Competence still applies outside GSIUR. In premises GSIUR doesn't cover, such as factories, gas engineers must still be competent to meet the general duties in sections 2 and 3 of the Act.
- Standards of training. HSE's Approved Code of Practice on training in safe gas installation (now in L56, under regulation 3) applies to duties under sections 2 and 3 of the Act as well as to GSIUR.
RIDDOR
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 require certain gas incidents and dangerous gas fittings to be reported to HSE. In short:
- Regulation 11(1): a death, loss of consciousness or hospital visit connected with gas is reported by the gas transporter or LPG supplier, not the engineer.
- Regulation 11(2): a gas fitting that is dangerous because of its design, construction, installation, modification or servicing must be reported by the registered gas business within 14 days.
The full detail is in 14.5 Reporting.
The Building Regulations: Part J
Part J of the Building Regulations 2010 covers combustion appliances and fuel storage. Its requirements for gas work are:
| Requirement | In short |
|---|---|
| J1 Air supply | Enough air for combustion, to prevent overheating and for the flue to work |
| J2 Discharge of products of combustion | Adequate provision to discharge combustion products to the outside air |
| J3 Warning of release of carbon monoxide | Fixed combustion appliances in dwellings need a way of detecting and warning of CO |
| J4 Protection of building | Reduce the risk of burns or of the building catching fire |
| J5 Provision of information | A durable notice about a new or extended hearth, fireplace, flue or chimney |
Approved Document J gives guidance on meeting these requirements. Following it creates a presumption that you've complied, but you may meet a requirement another way.
Notifying building work
Most building work must be notified to a Building Control Body (BCB) before it starts. Gas work is an exception, because GSIUR already requires gas businesses to be registered:
- Work that consists only of installing a gas appliance, carried out by a member of the HSE-approved class of persons (Gas Safe Register), doesn't need advance notice to building control.
- Where work is done under such a competent person scheme, the occupier must be given a certificate within 30 days of completion confirming that the work complies with the Building Regulations, and the BCB must be notified within the same period. These certificates and notices are usually issued through the scheme operator.
- In general, any work on a combustion appliance that isn't a repair or maintenance is notifiable work.
GSIUR also applies in buildings that are exempt from the Building Regulations.
Sources: L56 (2018) paras 1, 4, 14, 86HSWA framework IGEM/G/11 Ed. 2 3.2HSWA general duty RIDDOR 2013 reg. 11gas cases Approved Document J (2010, 2022 amendments)J1–J5, notification ADJ 3.43–3.44CO alarms ADJ 3.1–3.5gas work CCN1 Issue 16 §1, §3assessed
Tutor notes
- Ask who reports what: an engineer finds a flue disconnected by a previous installer; a customer is taken to hospital with CO poisoning. Which part of RIDDOR applies, and whose duty is it?
- Have learners decide whether a CO alarm is needed for: a replacement combi boiler in a kitchen; a new freestanding gas cooker; a new gas fire in a lounge.
- CCN1 §3 (knowledge item 19) assesses regional differences in Building Regulations on CO. The site only covers England so far; add Welsh and Scottish requirements from your own sources.