The Gas Safety (Management) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

Amendment of regulation 7

7.—(1) Regulation 7 (gas escapes and investigations) is amended as follows.

(2) For paragraph 1 substitute—

“(1) An emergency reporting service provider—

(a) must provide a continuously staffed telephone service for enabling persons to report an escape of gas from a network or from a gas fitting supplied with gas from a relevant network, and

(b) may provide other continuously staffed means for enabling persons to report such an escape to it.

(1A) In this regulation “relevant network”, in relation to an emergency reporting service provider (“N”), means—

(a) the network for which N is the emergency reporting service provider, or

(b) where N is the emergency reporting service provider for two or more networks, any of the networks for which N is the emergency reporting service provider,

and references to a “relevant service provider” are to be construed accordingly.

(1B) The telephone service provided for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a) must be contactable within Great Britain by the use of one telephone number.

(1C) Where the emergency reporting service provider is not the same for all networks—

(a) the emergency reporting service providers must ensure, for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), that they are all contactable within Great Britain by the use of the same telephone number, and

(b) where an emergency reporting service provider (“E”) also provides other means for enabling persons to report gas escapes to it, E must have in place arrangements to ensure that any gas escape notified to E which concerns a network for which E is not the emergency reporting service provider is notified forthwith to the relevant emergency reporting service provider.”.

(3) In paragraph (2) for “Where British Gas p.l.c” substitute “If an emergency reporting service provider”.

(4) In paragraph (3) for “British Gas p.l.c” substitute “the emergency reporting service provider for the relevant network”.

(5) After paragraph (3) insert—

“(3A) But paragraph (3) does not apply if the person who discovers or is notified of the escape of gas is the emergency reporting service provider for that network.”.

(6) In paragraph (8) for “British Gas p.l.c” substitute “the emergency reporting service provider for the network from which the premises are supplied with gas”.

(7) After paragraph (8) insert—

“(8A)  But paragraph (8) does not apply if the responsible person is the emergency reporting service provider for that network.”.

(8) In paragraph (11)—

(a) in the words before sub-paragraph (a)—

(i) after “conveying gas” insert “(“C”)”;

(ii) for “his behalf” substitute “C’s behalf”;

(iii) for “he does” substitute “C does”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (a)—

(i) for “he” substitute “C”;

(ii) for “British Gas p.l.c” substitute “the emergency reporting service provider for the network”;

(c) in sub-paragraph (b), for “the person conveying the gas”, in both places it occurs, substitute “C”.

(9) After paragraph (11) insert—

“(11A) But paragraph (11)(a) does not apply where C is the emergency reporting service provider for that network.”.

(10) In paragraph (17)(a), for “the 1994 Regulations” substitute “the 1998 Regulations”.