Keep gas appliances safe in your business premises

Who must keep gas equipment safe

If you are an employer or self-employed and you control a workplace, you must make sure every gas appliance, length of installation pipework and flue there is maintained in a safe condition. That duty is in regulation 35 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, which apply in England, Scotland and Wales.

If you rent your premises, the duty sits with whoever controls them. A tenancy or contract that makes you responsible for maintaining or repairing the premises, or for the safety of plant in them, treats you as having control to that extent, so what your lease says about boilers, flues and shared pipework matters. A landlord who keeps control of shared parts, such as a plant room, stays responsible for the equipment there.

Use a Gas Safe registered engineer

In workplaces such as shops, restaurants, schools and hospitals, only a Gas Safe registered engineer who is qualified for the job may install, repair, maintain or check gas fittings. It is illegal for anyone else to do the work, and it is your responsibility to check that the engineer is registered and qualified.

Look at the engineer's Gas Safe ID card before work starts. It shows the types of gas work they are qualified to do and whether their qualifications are up to date. You can also check on the Gas Safe Register website or by phoning 0800 408 5500. Engineers are registered for particular types of work, such as commercial catering or LPG, so make sure the card covers your appliances.

In factories, mines, quarries, agricultural premises, construction site huts and sewage works, the work must instead be done by a competent person, with Gas Safe registration the clearest proof of competence. Any part of those sites used as living or sleeping accommodation still needs a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Breaching the regulations is a criminal offence. On conviction in the Crown Court the penalty is an unlimited fine, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Keep appliances maintained

The regulations set no fixed inspection interval for gas equipment in a workplace. HSE says servicing should follow the manufacturer's recommendations and that, as a general rule, an annual inspection is a reasonable minimum, with repairs made as necessary.

Between visits, make sure rooms with gas appliances are well ventilated: do not block air inlets to stop draughts, and do not obstruct flues or chimneys. Staff who use gas equipment should know how to spot obvious faults, such as damaged pipework or connections, a flame supervision device that no longer works, or a smell of gas, and what to do about them.

Never use an appliance you know or suspect is unsafe. If an engineer classes an appliance as at risk, they will ask your permission to turn it off, and if they class it as immediately dangerous they will disconnect it. In both cases it must stay out of use until it has been repaired.

If you smell gas

1. Phone the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 for natural gas, or your LPG supplier for LPG.
2. Open all doors and windows.
3. Turn off the gas at the meter control valve if you know where it is.
4. If in doubt, leave the building and tell the police as well.
5. Leave the gas off until a competent person has dealt with the leak.

Carbon monoxide

Faulty, badly maintained or poorly ventilated gas equipment can produce carbon monoxide, so maintenance and ventilation are what keep people safe. An alarm is a second line of defence, not a substitute.

Gas equipment in a commercial kitchen

If you let out living accommodation

A landlord's duty to arrange an annual gas safety check covers residential accommodation let under a lease or licence, not commercial lettings. It does not cover appliances used only in the commercial part of a building.

You can have a check done up to two months before it falls due and keep the original due date. Where a tenant stays no more than 28 days, as in holiday accommodation, you can display a copy of the record in the premises instead of handing one over.