Gas Safety Update CESA Regulatory Compliance Managers Meeting Enzo Alfonsetti Manager Type A Gas Appliance and Component Safety (GTRC chairman) CESA Regulatory Compliance Managers Meeting 14 June 2018

Topics Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules Regulatory framework for high risk gas equipment Revision of AS4575 (Type A gas appliance servicing) Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations Reset Oven door temperatures

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules Gas Equipment Certification Scheme Rules are known as “The Rules” The Rules sets minimum criteria for certification bodies (CABs) that are recognised by the Gas Technical Regulators in Australia to certify gas equipment Gas Equipment certified under The Rules includes equipment referenced in AS3645 “Essential Requirements for Gas Equipment” Version 1 dated 5 March 2018 has been published on the GTRC website http://www.gtrc.gov.au/publications/

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules Gas Technical Regulators Committee (GTRC) Australian members contributed to the development of The Rules. The Rules however can only be enforced through independent adoption by respective jurisdictions The Rules become mandatory in Victoria from 1/1/2019 for new applications and from 1/1/2020 for existing certifications Some other jurisdictions have indicated that they will be adopting The Rules in the near future

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules CABs must: have an ABN and be registered with the Australian Business Register audit recognised test labs if the lab is accredited by a body other than NATA obtain a declaration of conformity from the certificate holder (guarantee of production quality)

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules Gas equipment must comply with any new or amended requirements within 2 years of date of publication of the relevant standard unless a specific time frame is specified within the standard. Gas Compliance Mark (GCM) must be displayed on appliances along with the CABs certification mark The GCM does not need to be displayed on packaging Gas components are not required to display the GCM.

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules GCM height to be generally 25mm with a minimum height of 20mm GCM Styleguide updated for consistency with NZ Gas Safety Compliance Label The GCM will be accepted in New Zealand however the NZ Gas Safety Compliance Label will not be accepted in Australia as it does not include the inscription “Australia only” or “Australia and New Zealand” below the logo Artwork for the GCM will be made available shortly

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules Negative feedback was received from stakeholders with respect to the certificate holder’s declaration that the gas equipment is safe when foreseeably misused Version 2 of The Rules no longer refers to “foreseeable misuse” “Safe” is now defined as: “Unlikely to endanger persons (particularly children, the elderly and people with disabilities), domestic animals or cause damage to property when normally used.”

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules The revised definition of “safe” is a combination of the definition of “safe” in AS3645:2017 and the definition for “normally used” in The Rules The definition for normally used remains unchanged as follows: The gas equipment is: installed, operated and/or serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions; used with the gas type and gas pressure as marked; and used for its intended purpose and in a way that can be reasonably foreseen.

Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules The reference to “reasonably foreseen” is consistent with the terminology in the European Gas Appliance Regulations as follows: “When designing and constructing the appliance, and when drafting the instructions, the manufacturer shall envisage not only the intended use of the appliance, but also the reasonably foreseeable uses” Version 2 of The Rules was sent to stakeholders on 13 June 2018 and will be published on the GTRC website shortly.

Regulatory framework for high risk gas equipment Consideration will be given to a more rigorous regulatory framework for gas equipment considered to be “high risk” Risk assessment was developed to identify high risk products based upon incident and recall data and the following: Appliance location Potential for property damage Potential for injury or fatality Foreseeable use Potential for lab testing to mitigate risk

Regulatory framework for high risk gas equipment Gas equipment considered high risk includes: Portable butane canister cookers Portable butane heaters Open flued space and water heaters Flueless space heaters Portable LPG refrigerators Hose assemblies

Regulatory framework for high risk gas equipment Cost/ benefit analysis of high risk gas equipment commencing June 2018 and to consider the following for continued certification of high risk products: Annual visual inspection (status quo baseline) Annual check testing Check testing every 2 years Factory assessment within 12 months of certification and at 5 years with check testing in year 2 and 4 Factory assessment and check testing annually

Regulatory framework for high risk gas equipment Check testing is to be conducted in Australian (NATA accredited) test laboratories Check testing and factory inspections (Type 5 certification scheme) will be considered for future amendment of The Rules dependent upon outcome of cost/ benefit analysis Waiting on outcome of Coronial matter involving an open flued gas space heater that may impact significantly on this work The list of “high risk” product may be subject to change in the future dependent on future recalls and incidents

Revision of AS4575 (Type A gas appliance servicing) AS4575 has been identified by Standards Australia as an “aged standard”. It was last published in 2005 The current standard is voluntary and is not referenced in legislation Current scope is limited to quality requirements for management and delivery of Type A appliance servicing New scope includes requirements for the servicing, repair and conversion from one gas type to another of Type A appliances

Revision of AS4575 (Type A gas appliance servicing) The draft standard will include additional information on: OH&S risk assessment Electrical safety requirements along with a comprehensive informative appendix Tools and equipment Appliance servicing Customer notice template for dangerous gas appliance or installation Gas appliance servicing checklist

Revision of AS4575 (Type A gas appliance servicing) Draft for public comment should be available in the second half of this year Consideration to amending the Victorian gas installation regulations after they have been reset to include a reference to AS4575 Future consideration will be given to referencing AS4575 in the national training package for Type A gas appliance servicing

Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations Reset The regulations call up the Gas Installation standard AS/NZS5601.1 and expire in December Regulations will be remade mid year prior to caretaker period for State election and will come into effect 22 October 2018. Discussion paper was issued rather than a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) as impact of changes does not exceed monetary threshold for a RIS A discussion paper generated a number of submissions which can be found on our website http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/news/gas-safety-regulations-2018- discussion-papers/

Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations Reset Changes proposed include: Removal of some redundant provisions around the need to apply to have second hand accepted by ESV Fee for acceptance of Type A gas appliances by ESV to remove incentive for applicants to use ESV as a free service rather than using certification bodies Fees will be in line with comparable activities regulated by ESV. A fee of 51 fee units (currently $725.22) is proposed for acceptance of a Type A appliance or a class of appliance ESV will have a new power to waive or rebate fees where circumstances may justify it doing so

Domestic oven door temperatures The AG001 Gas Appliance committee undertook a review of gas oven door surface temperatures Allowable temperature limits significantly exceeded limits for electric domestic ovens both in Australia and Europe Publication of AS/NZS 5263.1.1 on 11 February 2016 introduced limits that aligned with EN30.1 New limits are still higher than in AS/NZS 60335.2.6 Consideration to further reduction only if additional research work provides justification

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