Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Part V Gas Appliances

Interpretation of Part V

25.  In this Part—

“flue pipe” means a pipe forming a flue but does not include a pipe built as a lining into either a chimney or a gas appliance ventilation duct;

“operating pressure”, in relation to a gas appliance, means the pressure of gas at which it is designed to operate.

Gas appliances — safety precautions

26.—(1) A person shall not install a gas appliance unless it can be used without constituting a danger to any person.

(2) A person shall not connect a flued domestic gas appliance to the gas supply system except by a permanently fixed rigid pipe.

(3) A person shall not install a used gas appliance without verifying that it is in a safe condition for further use.

(4) A person shall not install a gas appliance which does not comply with any statutory provision imposing a prohibition or restriction on the supply of such an appliance on grounds of safety.

(5) A person carrying out the installation of a gas appliance shall not leave it connected to the gas supply unless the appliance can be used safely.

(6) A person shall not install a gas appliance without there being at the inlet to it means of shutting off the supply of gas to the appliance unless the provision of such means is not reasonably practicable.

(7) A person shall not carry out any work in relation to a gas appliance which bears an indication that it conforms to a type approved by any person as complying with safety standards in such a manner that the appliance ceases to comply with those standards.

(8) A person carrying out work in relation to a gas appliance which bears an indication that it so conforms shall not remove or deface the indication.

(9) Where a person performs work on a gas appliance, he shall immediately thereafter examine—

(a) the effectiveness of any flue;

(b) the supply of combustion air;

(c) its operating pressure or heat input or, where necessary, both; and

(d) its operation so as to ensure its safe functioning,

and forthwith take all reasonably practicable steps to notify any defect to the responsible person and, where different, the owner of the premises in which the appliance is situated or, where neither is reasonably practicable, in the case of an appliance supplied with liquefied petroleum gas, the supplier of gas to the appliance, or, in any other case, the transporter.

Flues

27.—(1) A person shall not install a gas appliance to any flue unless the flue is suitable and in a proper condition for the safe operation of the appliance.

(2) A person shall not install a flue pipe so that it enters a brick or masonry chimney in such a way that the seal between the flue pipe and the chimney cannot be inspected.

(3) A person shall not connect a gas appliance to a flue which is surrounded by an enclosure unless that enclosure is so sealed that any spillage of products of combustion cannot pass from the enclosure to any room or internal space other than the room or internal space in which the appliance is installed.

(4) A person shall not install a power operated flue system for a gas appliance unless it safely prevents the operation of the appliance if the draught fails.

Access

28.  A person shall not install a gas appliance except in such a manner that it is readily accessible for operation, inspection and maintenance.

Manufacturer’s instructions

29.  Any person who installs a gas appliance shall leave for the use of the owner or occupier of the premises in which the appliance is installed all instructions provided by the manufacturer and which accompanied the appliance.

Room-sealed appliances

30.—(1) A person shall not install a gas appliance in a room used or intended to be used as a bathroom or a shower room unless it is a room-sealed appliance.

(2) A person shall not install a gas fire, other gas space heater or a gas water heater of more than 14 kilowatt heat input in a room used or intended to be used as sleeping accommodation unless the appliance is a room-sealed appliance.

(3) A person shall not install a gas fire, other gas space heater or a gas water heater of 14 kilowatt heat input or less in a room used or intended to be used as sleeping accommodation unless—

(a) it is a room-sealed appliance; or

(b) it incorporates a safety control designed to shut down the appliance before there is a build up of a dangerous quantity of the products of combustion in the room concerned.

Suspended appliances

31.  A person shall not install a suspended gas appliance unless the installation pipework to which it is connected is so constructed and installed as to be capable of safely supporting the weight imposed on it and the appliance is designed to be so supported.

Flue dampers

32.—(1) Any person who installs an automatic damper to serve a gas appliance shall—

(a) ensure that the damper is so interlocked with the gas supply to the burner that burner operation is prevented in the event of failure of the damper when not in the open position; and

(b) immediately after installation examine the appliance and the damper to verify that they can be used together safely without constituting a danger to any person.

(2) A person shall not install a manually operated damper to serve a domestic gas appliance.

(3) A person shall not install a domestic gas appliance to a flue which incorporates a manually operated damper unless the damper is permanently fixed in the open position.

Testing of appliances

33.—(1) Where a person installs a gas appliance at a time when gas is being supplied to the premises in which the appliance is installed, he shall immediately thereafter test its connection to the installation pipework to verify that it is gastight and examine the appliance and the gas fittings and other works for the supply of gas and any flue or means of ventilation to be used in connection with the appliance for the purpose of ascertaining whether—

(a) the appliance has been installed in accordance with these Regulations;

(b) the operating pressure is as recommended by the manufacturer;

(c) the appliance has been installed with due regard to any manufacturer’s instructions provided to accompany the appliance; and

(d) all gas safety controls are in proper working order.

(2) Where a person carries out such testing and examination in relation to a gas appliance and adjustments are necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements specified in paragraph (1)(a) to (d), he shall either carry out those adjustments or disconnect the appliance from the gas supply.

(3) Where gas is not being supplied to any premises in which any gas appliance is installed—

(a) a person shall not subsequently permit gas to pass into the appliance unless he has caused such testing, examination and adjustment as is specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) to be carried out;

(b) a person who subsequently provides a gas supply to those premises shall, unless he complies with sub-paragraph (a), ensure that the appliance is sealed off from the gas supply with an appropriate fitting.

Unsafe appliances

34.—(1) The responsible person for any premises shall not use or cause or permit the use of a gas appliance if at any time he knows or has reason to suspect—

(a) that there is insufficient supply of air available for the appliance for proper combustion at the point of combustion;

(b) that the removal of the products of combustion from the appliance is not being or cannot safely be carried out;

(c) that the room or internal space in which the appliance is situated is not adequately ventilated for the purpose of providing air containing a sufficiency of oxygen for the persons present in the room, or in, or in the vicinity of, the internal space while the appliance is in use;

(d) that any gas is escaping from the appliance or from any gas fitting used in connection with the appliance; or

(e) that the appliance or any part of it or any gas fitting or other works for the supply of gas used in connection with the appliance is so faulty or maladjusted that it cannot be used without constituting a danger to any person.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the responsible person means the occupier of the premises, the owner of the premises and any person with authority for the time being to take appropriate action in relation to any gas fitting therein.

(3) Any person engaged in carrying out any work in relation to a gas main, service pipe, service pipework, gas storage vessel or gas fitting who knows or has reason to suspect that any defect or other circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) exists shall forthwith take all reasonably practicable steps to inform the responsible person for the premises in which the appliance is situated and, where different, the owner of the appliance or, where neither is reasonably practicable, in the case of an appliance supplied with liquefied petroleum gas, the supplier of gas to the appliance, or, in any other case, the transporter.

(4) In paragraph (3), the expression “work” shall be construed as if, in the definition of “work” in regulation 2(1), every reference to a gas fitting were a reference to a gas main, service pipe, service pipework, gas storage vessel or gas fitting.