Gas appliances: what GSIUR Part E requires

Part E of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations is about the appliance itself: whether it can go where it is proposed, how it is connected and flued, and what has to be checked before anyone leaves it in use.

Before and during installation

• It must be safe to use. No appliance may be installed unless it can be used without danger to anyone (regulation 26(1)).
• Used appliances. A second-hand appliance may be installed only after its condition has been verified as safe for further use (26(3)). Commissioning checks come afterwards and do not replace that.
• Flued appliances connect rigidly. A flued domestic appliance is connected by a permanently fixed rigid pipe, never a hose (26(2)). Flexible connections belong to appliances such as freestanding cookers that are designed to be moved and have no flue. Room-sealed appliances are flued too.
• Isolation. A means of shutting off the gas at the appliance inlet is fitted unless that is not reasonably practicable (26(6)).
• Access and instructions. The appliance must be readily accessible for operation, inspection and maintenance (28), and the manufacturer's instructions are left for the owner or occupier (29).

Flues and dampers

• The flue must be suitable and in a proper condition for the appliance (27(1)).
• Where a flue pipe enters a brick or masonry chimney, the seal between them must be inspectable (27(2)). A joint that cannot be seen cannot be checked at any later service.
• A flue inside an enclosure needs the enclosure sealed so that any spillage cannot pass into a room other than the appliance's own (27(3)). A failed joint inside boxing is otherwise both hidden and connected to the next room.
• A power-operated flue must stop the appliance working if the draught fails (27(4)).
• A manually operated damper may not serve a domestic appliance, and where an existing flue has one it is fixed permanently open before a domestic appliance is connected. An automatic damper must be interlocked so the burner cannot run if the damper fails when not open (32).

Rooms that need room-sealed appliances

• Bathrooms and shower rooms: room-sealed only (30(1)).
• Rooms used for sleeping: a gas fire, other space heater or water heater over 14 kW gross input must be room-sealed. At 14 kW or less it must be room-sealed or have a safety control that shuts it down before combustion products build up to a dangerous level (30(2) and (3)).
• Instantaneous water heaters, in any room: room-sealed, or fitted with that shut-down safety control (30(3)).
• Cupboards count. A cupboard or compartment within one of those rooms, or next to it with an air vent into it, is treated as part of that room (30(4)). Keeping a door shut does not change that; the vent is the connection.

After installing, and after any work

• After installation, with gas supplied, the connection is tested for tightness and the appliance is examined to confirm it meets the regulations, runs at the manufacturer's operating pressure, has been installed in line with the instructions and has all its gas safety controls in proper working order. If adjustment is needed and cannot be made, the appliance is disconnected or sealed off with an appropriate fitting (33). Turning it off and leaving a note does not meet that.
• After work on an appliance, examine the effectiveness of any flue, the supply of combustion air, the operating pressure or heat input (or, where that is not reasonably practicable, the combustion performance) and its operation, so it functions safely. Defects are reported to the responsible person (26(9)).
• Suspected danger. Anyone working on gas who knows or suspects an appliance cannot be used safely must take all reasonably practicable steps to tell the responsible person, and the owner of the appliance where different (34(3)).