1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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/ 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

5. 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)

6. 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.

7. 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

8. Gas Technical Regulators of Australia Scheme Rules

9. 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.”

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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 AS in the national training package for Type A gas appliance servicing

19. Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations Reset
The regulations call up the Gas Installation standard AS/NZS 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 discussion-papers/

20. 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

21. 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 on 11 February introduced limits that aligned with EN30.1
New limits are still higher than in AS/NZS
Consideration to further reduction only if additional research work provides justification

22. Questions