Australian Capital Territory

Gas Safety (Provision of Compliance Indicator and Certificate of Compliance) Code of Practice 2008
Disallowable Instrument DI2008–41
made under the
Gas Safety Act 2000, s 65 (Codes of Practice)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Section 65 of the Gas Safety Act 2000 allows the Minister to approve codes of practice.  A code of practice may set out practices, standards and other matters about – 

(a)	the safe installation, connection, repair, maintenance or operation of consumer piping systems or appliances; or
(b)	notifications and certifications on completion of any gasfitting work or appliance work.

This instrument determines a code of practice for the purpose of section 9 of the 
Gas Safety Act 2000, which in conjunction with section 12 of the 
Gas Safety Regulations 2001 requires that “as soon as practicable” after gasfitting work is completed in accordance with section 8 of the Gas Safety Act 2000, the responsible gasfitter must attach a compliance indicator to the relevant consumer piping system and give a certificate of compliance to the owner or occupier and a copy of the certificate of compliance to the ACT Planning and Land Authority.  

This code of practice provides a time frame for the attaching of the compliance indicator and the provision of the certificate of compliance that is considered to be a reasonable interpretation of the term “As soon as practicable”.

The Building Act 2004 already requires a certificate for electrical and plumbing work, under their respective legislation, to be in place prior to the issue of a certificate of occupancy and use.  With the increasing use of gas appliances and the associated safety risks it is proposed to amend the Building Act to also require a gas compliance certificate to be in place prior to the issue of a certificate of occupancy and use.  

The current wording of section 9 of the Gas Safety Act relies on the individual gasfitter to determine what “as soon an practicable” means resulting in no certainty as to when the certificate of compliance might be provided to the ACT Planning and Land Authority.  This code of practice will provide this certainty and will ensure that gas compliance certificates are provided to the ACT Planning and Land Authority within 7 days to facilitate the issue of certificates of occupancy and use.  

Copies of codes

Copies of this code of practice will be available for public inspection during ordinary office hours at the ACT Planning and Land Authority customer service section, ground floor south, 16 Challis Street, Dickson.