If you are getting a new gas appliance installed, or if you are making any changes at all to your gas system, you will need to use a professional gas engineer. Due to the potential dangers involved with making any alterations to a gas supply or installation, it is essential that the engineer is fully trained and qualified to carry out the work. The potential dangers of using someone who is not qualified are extremely serious; there is the possibility of fire, structural damage and even carbon monoxide poisoning. So how do you know if your engineer is up to the job and legally entitled to work with gas?

According to British law, all gas engineers must be registered with the Gas Safe Register. This is the official gas registration body for the UK, and until 2009 it was known as CORGI. Its objective is to maintain and improve gas safety standards to the very highest level. There are currently around 125,000 Gas Safe registered engineers, and the registration body works to make sure that all of them are fully qualified to work with gas.

Before any engineer begins work on your home, it is essential that you check they are registered with Gas Safe. All registered engineers will have a Gas Safe ID card, which shows their registration number and on the back it details the kind of jobs they are qualified to do, for example cooker, boiler, pipework, gas fire and so on. The card will have a photo ID of the engineer as well as a hologram so you know it is genuine. Make sure you check the start date and expiry date. If the work is scheduled to be done at a time that falls outside of these dates, the engineer is not qualified to do the job. For more information about gas engineers, visit www.gassaferegister.co.uk.

If you have chosen one of the gas fireplaces for sale at Manor House Fireplaces and Stoves, you can rest assured that all of our fitting teams are Gas Safe registered. We choose the teams carefully, and they have many years’ experience of working with gas and fitting gas appliances. They are also registered with HETAS, the official body that approves biomass and solid fuel domestic heating heating appliances and installers, and are experienced at fitting wood burners, as well as fireplaces and electrical appliances. If you would like more reassurance about our Gas Safe registered engineers, please feel free to get in touch, we will be happy to talk to you.

Image Courtesy: gassaferegister.co.uk, twitter.com/hetas_uk, gassaferegister.co.uk