CORGI’s job has been to improve gas safety but, with the latest legislation, it is moving into improving safety in other areas. Paul Braithwaite talks to Tim Ottridge, managing director of Gas Registration, and Natalie Minter, project development manager, about the new legislation and how CORGI is attempting to cut the confusion
CONFUSION reigns, believes Tim Ottridge, managing director, Gas Registration at CORGI.



CORGI recently announced it is now starting to work with other tradespeople, not just gas installers.

Tim maintains many electricians, ventilation engineers and plumbers in England and Wales are unsure of the legislation and need help understanding the new requirements.

But he warns: 'Increasingly, Local Authority Building Control (LABC) departments and the new Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG formerly ODPM) are coming down hard on those who ignore the new regulations. Several companies have been fined, one as much as £14,000 for non-compliance.'

This is one reason CORGI increased the scope of its Competent Persons Schemes to include not just gas installers and electricians (April 2005) but also plumbers and ventilation engineers.

'It makes sense to include these skills alongside our gas safety scheme because they are allied trades. Elements of gas, electrical, plumbing and ventilation work must be notified to the relevant LABC.'

Previously, tradespeople have had to notify LABC before undertaking the work. But now government has introduced Competent Persons Schemes as an alternative. By joining a scheme, tradesmen self-certify that the work complies with Building Regulations, and they just notify the scheme provider after completing the job. The LABC is then notified on the tradesperson's behalf, and with CORGI's scheme, the customer receives a Building Regulations Compliance certificate.

Tradespeople can sign up to CORGI's schemes to keep it simple - and all under one roof - because otherwise someone who installed the central heating (gas, electrics and plumbing) and a downstairs lavatory (ventilation) may have to notify the work to four different organisations which can be an administrative burden.'

The householder, too, might have to endure four separate inspections.

And CORGI says that while there is an initial charge for joining each scheme - there are discounts for CORGI gas installers and for multiple signings - installers can register up to six self-certifications per address for the fee (£2.50 via the internet or £4.50 by phone).

CORGI has been working hard to advise people of the changes and to explain the benefits of joining a self-certification scheme.

According to Natalie Minter, project development manager at CORGI, and the person responsible for making the Competent Persons Schemes work, every engineer who wants to join will have to pass an assessment by a CORGI inspector.

She adds CORGI has, within the electrical scheme which has been running for a year, set criteria. It is working with the DCLG to set the criteria for plumbers and ventilating engineers.

There are at present 135 gas safety inspectors working across 12 areas. These are being trained up to become multi-skilled inspectors with 48 able to assess plumbers, 24 electricians and, at present, just a few for ventilation engineers. But CORGI's inspection training is increasing as more and more traders join the scheme.

'Under Part P, the electrician must have certain qualifications as a pre-requisite to joining our scheme.'

But plumbing is a year behind and the industry is, says Natalie, as yet mostly unregulated. Part G (for plumbing) is split into three sections:

· G3 is about unvented hot water cylinders and there is an absolute criteria for this;

· G1 & G2 are about the installation of a bathroom suite and, here, a level NVQ2 or 3 is acceptable.

Many plumbers have been in business for years, carrying out high quality work but without formal qualifications, so CORGI has developed a robust assessment process taking this into account but still ensuring they have, for instance, the right testing equipment, experience, public liability insurance of at least £2m, checks on work completed and so on.

Some 8,500 gas installers and 4,500 non-gas installers have already expressed an interest in joining CORGI's Competent Persons Schemes.

Others may not realise they have a choice on how to notify their LABC - either directly before starting the work, or by being a member of a Competent Persons Scheme like CORGI's. Until they are certified, some may be working illegally.

'The reality is nobody knows just how many businesses there are or how many are working and not complying with the law,' says Tim.

CORGI has no enforcement powers but gathers evidence against those installers who flout gas safety laws.

'Every year, CORGI reports about 1,500 illegal gas workers to the HSE.'

It is the HSE's job to prosecute but Tim is unhappy with how few illegal installers are prosecuted.

'The HSE is not resourced to enforce it.'

Tim says CORGI would like to prosecute illegal installers but it does not have the teeth while the HSE has the teeth but doesn't use them as much as CORGI and registered installers would like them to.

'This is a huge frustration for the legal installers who have undergone testing and assessment and paid their fees. They feel CORGI is not doing its job.'



CORGI would like to work with government to bring this about. But as to the question of whether CORGI would like to be the enforcer in prosecuting illegal installers, Tim has reservations!

One of the working groups set up as part of current HSE review of gas safety is looking at the issue of illegal installers, considering alternatives such as ASBOs or fixed penalty fines or whether local authorities should take a more active role in prosecution.

Indeed, Frontline, the consultancy which is looking into the regulations including the role of CORGI, will submit recommendations later this year.

Tim says Frontline's brief was to review the HSE's options.

He adds, in the middle of all this, NAPIT has put in a bid to run a second gas registration scheme which the HSE is duty-bound to consider. And more than one provider would mean gas safety would suffer, he warns.

'Our concerns over NAPIT's proposal to have more than one registration scheme are all around the impact on UK gas safety. It would lead to increased consumer confusion about what type of installer to use and inconsistent standards across the industry - all making it easier for illegal gas workers to operate. With different providers and potentially different standards, installers who have been removed from one registration scheme could apply for and become registered in another.' And, yes, CORGI does remove installers who do not meet the defined standards.



Tim maintains the numbers are relatively small because CORGI does work with those who genuinely want to stay on the register to raise standards and develop skills.

'The alternative is that those who have been removed from the register will work illegally.'

However, when there are flagrant breaches installers are removed.

When considering standards of CORGI's Competent Persons Schemes, the electric and plumbing schemes have low failure rates but then, Natalie admits, those who have been on the ball and registered early would be likely to have up-to-date training and assessments.

Natalie expects consumers to be the ultimate drivers when they understand the new regulations and electricians and plumbers start to lose jobs because they are not registered.

The Home Information Packs will also help to squeeze out illegal installers. Already CORGI has received calls from consumers concerned they don't have the

necessary certificates for Home Information Packs although they are not required until next year.

The CORGI brand is synonymous with quality, safety and professionalism, Tim adds. It has great value in the eyes of the consumer.

'CORGI deals with thousands of calls from the public every year and thousands of technical queries from CORGI registered installers.'

Tim insists: 'With the HSE looking at, potentially, a second gas provider, who is the consumer going to contact to check on an installer, register a complaint or to report a non-registered installer?'

This is a big issue, he adds.

'Consumer safety would be risked if the HSE diluted the CORGI brand by introducing another gas registration body.'




The money goes to gas safety

CORGI is a registered charity.

'Some installers see it as this vast money-making machine,' says Tim Ottridge.

The reality is very different.

First, the gas registration scheme is financially ring-fenced. Any profits made here are reinvested to develop the gas safety registration scheme.

Second, CORGI's Competent Persons Schemes are also ring-fenced. Any surpluses are reinvested into the scheme development.

The third part of the business is the commercial activity, predominately geared to providing goods and services such as workwear, and any surpluses here go into the CORGI Trust.

The Trust then reinvests the surpluses into gas safety in the form of initiatives which could not be funded by the registration scheme. And, says Tim, installers often think schemes such as the Competent Persons Schemes are instigated by CORGI when in fact they are legislation handed down by government and, as government does not effectively communicate the laws direct to installers, CORGI is duty bound to inform installers and this is where the confusion arises.



Realistic approach

CORGI introduced Gas Work Notification in April 2005. Installers are required to notify CORGI when they install or exchange a gas appliance. This data has been used further to improve gas safety and to make CORGI's inspection process more robust. CORGI is encouraged with recent figures showing more than one million appliance notifications were received in the first year (April 2005 to April 2006).

Some 65,000 of these appliances were boilers. And, although the SBGI figures show annual sales for 1.5million gas boilers, Tim Ottridge is realistic.

'Nobody expected installers to notify us from day one. The notification scheme was a step change within the industry and needed a bedding-in process while installers became familiar with the new process.'

He adds some installers did not understand what they had to do and others ignored the requirement to notify at the start.

'I would like to thank those who embraced the regulations from the outset.'

The Gas Work Notification scheme has also helped manufacturers.

'In the last couple of months, two boiler suppliers have approached us to help them deal with potential component failures. CORGI has been able to notify those who installed those boilers individually.'

Just another aspect of gas safety, he insists.