What is the Gas Safe Register and Why Does it Matter?

If you have gas central heating or you cook with gas, you need to get your boiler and appliances installed and serviced by an engineer who is Gas Safe registered. Not only is this essential for insurance and warranties, but it is also the best way to ensure that you and your family are safe. It is also a legal requirement that all engineers who work with gas are on the Gas Safe register.

The Gas Safe register is the official registration body covering the UK, the Isle of Man, and Guernsey, and it replaced CORGI as the official governing body in 2009-2010.

What Does the Gas Safe Register Do?

The stated purpose of the Gas Safe Register is to “protect the public from unsafe gas work.” In practice, this includes:

• Ensuring the provided list of engineers deemed qualified and competent is kept up to date.
• Inspecting the work completed by Gas Safe engineers to ensure it meets rigorous standards.
• Investigating reports received about illegal gas works.
• Creating public awareness campaigns around safe installations, servicing, and repairs to improve safety.

What Does an Engineer Have to do to Become Gas Safe Registered?

Engineers who wish to work with gas must become registered with the Gas Safe register. This is a legal requirement.

Not only do prospective engineers have to have completed a relevant qualification (Gas Safe only accepts ACS, NVQ, or SVQ qualifications). They also need to provide evidence of competence to be considered. All qualifications and proof of competence must be valid and current and have come about through study via a recognized route of training and assessment.

Gas Safe engineers need to renew their registration once a year and update their qualifications once every five years. All gas engineers must be aligned with a registered Gas Safe business.



Once an engineer is qualified and has demonstrated their competence, they can apply to become Gas Safe registered. This costs £269 before VAT. If accepted, the engineer must complete a three-month probationary period, where records and examples of work completed must be kept to be assessed during inspections.

Gas Safe engineers will only be able to move out of probation once the inspections have been completed and they have demonstrated competence.

Should You Choose a Gas Safe Engineer?

Any type of work that involves gas must be completed by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This is your responsibility to source, and you should be able to see the licence of the engineer before they get started on the project for you. You can also check the website of the company you have chosen; there will be a very obvious yellow triangle on display to show they are registered. You can even check yourself on the Gas Safe register website.



Installation, service, and repair work on gas systems can all be conducted by the Gas Safe engineers at GMS. By choosing us, not only will you know that the work will be carried out to the highest standards, but they will also be as safe as possible. Contact the team today to discuss your gas boiler system.