How do I check a gas engineer is really Gas Safe registered?

This check exists because the failure mode is fatal and silent. Carbon monoxide has no smell, an incorrectly fitted flue can look entirely normal, and a boiler that appears to work perfectly can be venting into the house. The register is free, public and takes less time than making a cup of tea, and it is the only meaningful check a householder can make.

Safety

Step by step

1. Check before you book, not on the day.Search the Gas Safe Register by business name, engineer name, registration number or postcode. Doing it before booking means you are not making a decision with someone standing in your hallway.
2. Check the individual, not just the business.A registered business must use registered engineers, but the person doing the work is who matters. Get their name and check them.
3. Ask for the card on the day and look at the back.The front shows identity and registration; the back lists the categories of work the engineer is qualified for — boilers, cookers, fires, meters, commercial appliances. Someone qualified for cookers is not qualified for your boiler.
4. Check the expiry date and the photograph.Cards expire. Check the date and that the photograph is the person in front of you. Both sound obvious and both are how impersonation works.
5. Check the registration number matches the register.Cross-check the number on the card against the register entry. A card that does not match the register is the end of the conversation.
6. Expect the paperwork afterwards.A record of the work carried out, and for notifiable work such as a boiler installation, a building regulations compliance certificate from the scheme. Ask when they will arrive.
7. Report suspected illegal gas work.Gas Safe Register investigates reports of unregistered work, and does so confidentially. If you have already had work done by someone unregistered, arrange for a registered engineer to inspect the installation.
8. Fit carbon monoxide alarms regardless.In every room with a fuel-burning appliance. They cost very little and they are the only warning you will get about the failure this whole check is designed to prevent.

Tips

• Landlords have separate legal duties including an annual gas safety check on appliances and flues in rented property. If you rent, ask for the record; if you let, the duty is yours.
• Gas Safe Register is the register for gas engineers in Great Britain. If you are in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, check the current arrangements for your jurisdiction.
• If an engineer condemns an appliance and disconnects it, that is them doing their job. Get a second registered opinion if you doubt it, but do not reconnect it yourself.

Common mistakes

• Accepting a card without checking the register — Cards are copied and altered. The register is the authoritative source and checking it takes under a minute.
• Assuming registration covers all gas appliances — Registration is scoped by appliance category, listed on the back of the card. A gas fire and a combi boiler are different qualifications.

Questions people ask