From 1 April 2009, the Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas registration scheme in Great Britain.

The CORGI brand is historically well-known in the UK and was born out of the Gas Board as a membership of leading gas installers. CORGI subsequently went on to run the mandatory gas scheme for government for many years.

However, the Gas Safe Register replaced CORGI as the gas registration body in GB on 1 April 2009 after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) carried out a review of gas safety in 2006. This led to the decision to change to a new gas registration scheme and the contract was subsequently awarded to Capita Group plc and they launched Gas Safe Register.

Gas Safe Register is designed to offer the general public an improved service by making it easier to find and check the qualifications of an engineer. Each Gas Safe registered engineer has a photo ID card with a unique licence number and to check any individual engineer to see what work they are qualified to do you can visit the Gas Safe Register website at www.gassaferegister.co.uk or call the dedicated helpline on 0800 408 5500.

On a day-to-day basis, to legally carry out work on gas installations and appliances, engineers in Great Britain and the Isle of Man must be on the Gas Safe Register. However, this legislation does not generally apply to touring caravans or motorhomes, where the current requirement to service or repair gas appliances in such vehicles is often only to be considered ‘competent’. The caravan industry, through Caravan Industry Training (CITO), has developed a competence based training and assessment course aimed specifically at the requirements of caravan service engineers. This is an ACoP (Approved Code of Practice) industry qualification which is assessed by an accredited ACS (Accredited Certification Scheme) centre. ACoPs should be seen as the minimum standard for anyone working on gas appliances and it is a requirement for a caravan dealer’s membership of the Approved Workshop Scheme that 100% of the dealer’s engineers should have this ACoP qualification.

The next step in qualification is to advance to the ACS training level. This then qualifies an engineer to become eligible to join the Gas Safe Register. This then also allows gas work on touring caravans and motorhomes which are hired out in the course of business, where Gas Safe Register status is legally required. Tilshead Caravans are pleased to confirm that we have full Gas Safe Register status and currently have two Gas Safe registered, ACS qualified, engineers on our team.

Where does that leave CORGI? Well, although no longer recognised in law as a gas safety register, CORGI will remain a name in the gas industry as they will continue to offer a range of services and products to gas engineers and to promote them to homeowners through the addition of a new quality-based membership scheme. Only time will tell if the Gas Safe Register will become as synonymous with gas safety as the CORGI name has.