It has been announced that Northern Ireland's gas installer registration scheme will be operated by the Gas Safe Register from 1 April 2010. News of the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSE NI's) decision to follow the rest of the UK has been welcomed by Heating and Ventilating Contractors' Association (HVCA) trade bodies, who had raised concerns that their members who operate in Northern Ireland and on the mainland would have been forced to pay two registration fees.
The Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI gas registration scheme in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 April 2009. Northern Ireland will however retain CORGI until April 2010. Many had feared Northern Ireland would devise a separate scheme managed by CORGI. Blane Judd, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) commented, "Having two systems would have caused confusion and allowed unscrupulous plumbers and heating engineers to get away with all sorts of unacceptable practices. This is a victory for public safety and common sense."
Gas installers, suppliers, trade bodies and consumers took park in a HSE NI consultation exercise which ended on 30 April 2009. The HSE NI offered two options for the province's 720 registered gas operatives from April 2010: adopting the UK's Gas Safe Register or devising a stand-alone scheme for Northern Ireland, which would have been managed by CORGI.
A statement from the HSE NI said, "The overwhelming opinion from our consultation was that we align with the arrangements in Great Britain and appoint Gas Safe Register as the body approved to register gas installers for work in Northern Ireland. This move is in parallel with an increase in the inspection team in the Gas Safety unit, aimed at ensuring the highest level of safety for gas consumers."
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