Gas Safety Regulation 2001

This regulation is the Gas Safety Regulation 2001.

refuse to approve the application; or

extend the time for giving approval for commissioning of the appliance.

The construction occupations registrar may request the applicant to provide further information if the registrar considers it necessary to decide the application.

The construction occupations registrar must, as soon as practicable—

tell the applicant in writing of the decision under subsection (1); and

if the application is refused or the time for giving approval extended—give reasons for the decision.

A note included in this regulation is explanatory and is not part of this regulation.

Note See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of notes.

Other legislation applies in relation to offences against this regulation.

Note 1 Criminal Code

The Criminal Code, ch 2 applies to the following offences against this regulation (see Code, pt 2.1):

 s 9 (1) (Testing gas appliance connection)

 s 17D (2) and (4) (Unsafe gas appliance)

 s 17E (1) (Interfering with defect tag)

 s 18GB (Offence—interfere with compliance indicator).

The chapter sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility (including burdens of proof and general defences), and defines terms used for offences to which the Code applies (eg conduct, intention, recklessness and strict liability).

Note 2 Penalty units

The Legislation Act, s 133 deals with the meaning of offence penalties that are expressed in penalty units.

Part 2 Work safety and standards

Division 2.1 Gasfitting work

This division does not apply to a gas appliance designed to be portable.

Immediately after completing gasfitting work on a consumer piping system, the gasfitter must—

cap any gas appliance outlet from the system that does not have a gas appliance connected to it; and

if the work included the installation of a system—test the system for defects and ensure that it is safe; and

if the work was done on part of the system—test the part for defects and ensure that the system is safe.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

A person who connects a consumer piping system to a gas distribution network must—

ensure that the system and the installation of each gas appliance comply with all relevant codes; and

inspect and test each gas appliance connected to the system to ensure that it operates in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and specifications and that its installation complies with any condition of an exemption under subsection (2) or section 9 (3).

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

Note Code is defined in the Act, dict, as a code of practice approved under the Act, s 65 (Codes of practice) as varied and in force from time to time.

The construction occupations registrar may exempt a person from the application of subsection (1) (a) to the installation of a gas appliance if the registrar believes, on reasonable grounds, that—

compliance with the relevant codes does not justify the cost of compliance; and

the degree of safety reached in other ways is acceptable.

The construction occupations registrar must give the person written notice of the exemption.

An exemption under this section is subject to any condition stated in the exemption.

This section applies to a gasfitter who connects a gas appliance to a gas outlet in a consumer piping system that is connected to a gas distribution network.

The gasfitter must—

ensure that the installation of the gas appliance complies with the relevant standard and any relevant code; and

inspect and test the gas appliance to ensure that—

the appliance operates in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and specifications; and

the installation complies with any condition of an exemption under subsection (3) or section 7 (2).

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

The construction occupations registrar may exempt a person from subsection (2) (a) if the registrar believes on reasonable grounds that—

compliance with the relevant standard and any relevant code does not justify the cost of compliance; and

the degree of safety reached in other ways is acceptable.

The construction occupations registrar must give the person written notice of the exemption.

An exemption under this section is subject to any condition stated in the exemption.

This section applies to gasfitting work if—

in the course of the work a gas appliance (the original appliance) is disconnected from a consumer piping system; and

the original appliance has not been reconnected; and

another gas appliance has not been connected in place of the original appliance.

This section applies to gasfitting work whether or not other gasfitting work is performed on the same consumer piping system.

As soon as possible after the gasfitting work is performed and before leaving the premises where, at the time of the disconnection, the original appliance was located, the responsible gasfitter must—

cap the system outlet for the appliance; and

test the system and ensure that there are no leaks.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

For the Act, section 9 (b), the certificate of compliance must be signed by the gasfitter and given to—

for gasfitting work other than medical gasfitting work or medical gas technician work—the owner or occupier of the premises where the gasfitting work is completed; or

for medical gasfitting work or medical gas technician work—the person responsible for the medical gas system.

The gasfitter must give the certificate of compliance to the person mentioned in subsection (1) either—

by giving it to the person personally; or

by leaving it, addressed to the person, in a conspicuous place on the premises.

A gasfitter who gives a certificate of compliance in relation to gasfitting work must give a copy of the certificate to—

the construction occupations registrar; and

for gasfitting work other than medical gasfitting work or medical gas technician work—the owner of the gas distribution network.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

A gasfitter who gives a certificate of compliance must keep a copy of the certificate for at least 2 years after the day it was signed.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

The construction occupations registrar must keep a record of the information in a certificate received under subsection (3) for at least 10 years after the day of receipt.

For the Act, section 12 (c), the gasfitter must, immediately on discovering that a consumer piping system is unsafe—

isolate the system from the gas supply; and

securely attach, in a conspicuous place to an appropriate meter control or isolation valve in the system, a defect tag that indicates that the system has been isolated because it is unsafe.

Note If a defect tag is approved under s 19 (Approved defect tags) for this section, the tag must be used.

For the Act, section 12 (c), the notice of the unsafe system and the action necessary to make it safe must be given to the owner or occupier of the premises and to an inspector.

A gasfitter who gives a notice under subsection (2) must keep for at least 5 years a record of the notice sufficient to identify the premises where the system is located and when the notice was given.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

A gasfitter who keeps a record under subsection (3) must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to produce the record if requested to do so by an inspector.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

A person must not, without reasonable excuse, remove, alter, damage or deface a defect tag attached to a consumer piping system.

Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.

Subsection (1) does not apply to the removal of a defect tag by the person who attached it to the consumer piping system, or by an inspector, if the person or the inspector believes on reasonable grounds that the system is safe.

An inspector who removes a defect tag under subsection (2) must, as soon as practicable, notify, in writing, the person who had attached the tag of the removal.