Gas equipment Scheme Rules implementation

Gas equipment certification Scheme Rules (The Rules) have been published that impose new requirements on certification schemes recognised in Victoria. These Rules enhance the individual acceptances granted to existing gas equipment certification bodies. The Rules clearly outline regulatory expectations for certification bodies and allow for a consistent safety and compliance outcome across all recognised certification bodies. While most of the requirements in The Rules are consistent with current certification processes, there are a number of important changes the certification bodies will be required to enforce:

• certified appliance to be fitted with a national compliance mark
• certified products details to be provided to a publicly searchable national database of certified products
• suppliers are to sign a declaration confirming they are aware of their legal obligations to manufacturer and supply a product that is safe under normal and reasonably foreseeable use
• certifications are to be updated within 2 years from the date of publication of a standard amendment.

All recognised certification bodies are required to comply with the new Rules depending on the date a certification is issued. All new certifications issued after 1 January 2019 are required to comply with these Rules. Existing certifications have an additional 12 months to transition and are required to comply with new Rules from 1 January 2020. The Scheme Rules is available from the GTRC website.