I want to install LPG in my house for heating and a hob. The
installation is for myself, nobody else, in my own property. I will
only be using 2 small cylinders outside with an auto change-over
valve. I have installed central heating systems before for myself
before both gas and oil and I am not a member of any proffesional
body. I have had past work checked over the years by proffesionals
(people I know in the industry, including British Gas) in the cases of
the boiler installations to check for leaks and regulation compliance
with no problems at all. I would consider myself competant but no
body seems to actually be able to prove in black and white that you
have to be CORGI registered person to undertake LPG work (or OFTEC in
the case of oil) yourself.

I have been trawling the internet for months and I cannot find
anything which clearly states what the law is. Can anybody enlighten
me please.

wrote in message
...
I want to install LPG in my house for heating and a hob. The
installation is for myself, nobody else, in my own property. I will
only be using 2 small cylinders outside with an auto change-over
valve. I have installed central heating systems before for myself
before both gas and oil and I am not a member of any proffesional
body. I have had past work checked over the years by proffesionals
(people I know in the industry, including British Gas) in the cases of
the boiler installations to check for leaks and regulation compliance
with no problems at all. I would consider myself competant but no
body seems to actually be able to prove in black and white that you
have to be CORGI registered person to undertake LPG work (or OFTEC in
the case of oil) yourself.

I have been trawling the internet for months and I cannot find
anything which clearly states what the law is. Can anybody enlighten
me please.

For gas fitting you should be competent.

If nothing goes wrong your competence is unlikely to be questioned.

If something does go wrong and your competence is questioned by a third
party or organisation (eg an insurance company), you can either prove you
are "competent" through the normal route of CORGI membership OR (in the
final analysis) by presenting large quantities of supporting documentation
of previous installation experience/other qualifications to prove your case.

Therefore, in the normal case, now, effectively, in the UK, CORGI is taken
to be equivalent to "competent" (it may not actually mean competent though,
but that's not the point).


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
I want to install LPG in my house for heating and a hob. The
installation is for myself, nobody else, in my own property. I will
only be using 2 small cylinders outside with an auto change-over
valve. I have installed central heating systems before for myself
before both gas and oil and I am not a member of any proffesional
body. I have had past work checked over the years by proffesionals
(people I know in the industry, including British Gas) in the cases of
the boiler installations to check for leaks and regulation compliance
with no problems at all. I would consider myself competant but no
body seems to actually be able to prove in black and white that you
have to be CORGI registered person to undertake LPG work (or OFTEC in
the case of oil) yourself.

I have been trawling the internet for months and I cannot find
anything which clearly states what the law is. Can anybody enlighten
me please.

For gas fitting you should be competent.

If nothing goes wrong your competence is unlikely to be questioned.

If something does go wrong and your competence is questioned by a third
party or organisation (eg an insurance company), you can either prove you
are "competent" through the normal route of CORGI membership OR (in the
final analysis) by presenting large quantities of supporting documentation
of previous installation experience/other qualifications to prove your
case.

Therefore, in the normal case, now, effectively, in the UK, CORGI is taken
to be equivalent to "competent" (it may not actually mean competent
though, but that's not the point).



I should add that, if you are doing it for yourself and never involve anyone
else there is unlikely to be a problem as you are not being paid to do it.
Were a third party to get involved after an incident, even if just doing it
for yourself, is when the competency issue would be raised. If you are being
paid to do it then you may be in trouble even if nothing goes wrong.

In your situation it's your choice and make sure nothing goes wrong!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

wrote in message
...
I want to install LPG in my house for heating and a hob. The
installation is for myself, nobody else, in my own property. I will
only be using 2 small cylinders outside with an auto change-over
valve. I have installed central heating systems before for myself
before both gas and oil and I am not a member of any proffesional
body. I have had past work checked over the years by proffesionals
(people I know in the industry, including British Gas) in the cases of
the boiler installations to check for leaks and regulation compliance
with no problems at all. I would consider myself competant but no
body seems to actually be able to prove in black and white that you
have to be CORGI registered person to undertake LPG work (or OFTEC in
the case of oil) yourself.

I have been trawling the internet for months and I cannot find
anything which clearly states what the law is. Can anybody enlighten
me please.

The law is quite clear with working with gas. If your not paid then you can
work on gas to your heart's content. I'm not so sure with oil.

In the past the links to the relevant legislation has been posted here, for
a definitive answer I would suggest you google this group again.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
YAPH wrote:

LPG is a bit trickier than natural gas and even people who've passed the
rigorous assessments for NG aren't qualified to work on LPG. If you get
it
wrong you can blow up not only yourself but your family and even
neighbours. Personally, as a CORGI-registered (for NG only) installer I'd
hestitate to DIY LPG.

Out of curiosity, other than the problems related to its density (pooling
etc), and ensuring that you are dropping the bottle pressure with an
appropriate regulator, are there any other specific issues that you are
aware of with regard to LPG? I presume testing for leaks should be carried
out using similar mechanisms (but a longer water gauge!)?

On a practical level, it strikes me as odd in some respects that anyone
can rent a bottle, and is entrusted to make connections to it without much
in the way of advice or guidance on ensuring gas tightness of the
connections.


Very few people are killed or injured in gas explosions, one reason is the
pungent aroma added to gas, which isn't found in butane canisters for
lighters.

Yet despite that Corgi et al have a smoke and mirrors act to dissuade any of
us to touch gas perpetuated by its members. As John Stumbles intimated, our
weakness is not having intimate knowledge of working practice but we'll then
go overboard in checking our work.

Many years ago I coupled up a boiler to LPG and then changed it to natural
gas when it came to the area. I can't see the concerns regarding the
difference apart from LPG shouldn't be used in basements and the like.
Perhaps he'll put us right on what the differences are.

For info, I am aware in boating situations bottled gas is more fraught with
having sealed hulls but I though gas alarms were common place?

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...

On a practical level, it strikes me as odd in some respects that anyone
can rent a bottle, and is entrusted to make connections to it without much
in the way of advice or guidance on ensuring gas tightness of the
connections.

Roland Point (IIRC).

Nobody is trusted to make connections to bottled gas in some places not even
corgi!

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home"
saying something like:

On a practical level, it strikes me as odd in some respects that anyone
can rent a bottle, and is entrusted to make connections to it without much
in the way of advice or guidance on ensuring gas tightness of the
connections.

Roland Point (IIRC).

Ronan.

Nobody is trusted to make connections to bottled gas in some places not even
corgi!

Not so much the fault of the unlucky ******* who had a leaky bottle, but
more the ****e design of the block and the slipshod buggers who built
it.

"Owain" wrote in message
...
dennis@home wrote:
On a practical level, it strikes me as odd in some respects that anyone
can rent a bottle, and is entrusted to make connections to it without
much in the way of advice or guidance on ensuring gas tightness of the
connections.
Roland Point (IIRC).

Ronan Point.


Good point, memory is going, I should remember it I was 12 at the time.

And that was mains gas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronan_Point

It has resulted in the total ban of gas including LPG in some high rise
flats.
I wonder what plumbers do?

On 18 Nov 2008 09:44:41 GMT, Huge wrote:

OTOH, I installed a new hob, moved the bottles & replaced the regulator on my
LPG installation about 10 years ago, and I'm still here.

They gave up looking for my arms and legs and I had to type this with
a headstick. Not bad Eh?

8-)

Derek

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:02:49 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Out of curiosity, other than the problems related to its density
(pooling etc), and ensuring that you are dropping the bottle pressure
with an appropriate regulator, are there any other specific issues that
you are aware of with regard to LPG? I presume testing for leaks should
be carried out using similar mechanisms (but a longer water gauge!)?

Yes, tightness testing is somewhat different to NG. Also gas rate testing
can't be done the same way as on NG (by measuring how long it takes to
pass 1 cu ft or how many m^3 are passed in 2 minutes) since you don't have
a meter. There may be other things I don't know: I haven't done LPG so I
don't know what I don't know, hence I'm not competent.

--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

My karma ran over my dogma

YAPH coughed up some electrons that declared:

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:02:49 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Out of curiosity, other than the problems related to its density
(pooling etc), and ensuring that you are dropping the bottle pressure
with an appropriate regulator, are there any other specific issues that
you are aware of with regard to LPG? I presume testing for leaks should
be carried out using similar mechanisms (but a longer water gauge!)?

Yes, tightness testing is somewhat different to NG. Also gas rate testing
can't be done the same way as on NG (by measuring how long it takes to
pass 1 cu ft or how many m^3 are passed in 2 minutes) since you don't have
a meter. There may be other things I don't know: I haven't done LPG so I
don't know what I don't know, hence I'm not competent.


Back in the 70's, those of us who had parent's into caravanning thought
nothing of wopping some copper together and sticking in a new butane fire
(in a caravan, obviously).

Then again, caravans have loads of floor ventilation and you generally turn
the bottle off when hibernating them...

Wouldn't do it in a boat mind...

Cheers

Tim

YAPH wrote:
On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:02:49 +0000, John Rumm wrote:

Out of curiosity, other than the problems related to its density
(pooling etc), and ensuring that you are dropping the bottle pressure
with an appropriate regulator, are there any other specific issues that
you are aware of with regard to LPG? I presume testing for leaks should
be carried out using similar mechanisms (but a longer water gauge!)?

Yes, tightness testing is somewhat different to NG. Also gas rate testing
can't be done the same way as on NG (by measuring how long it takes to
pass 1 cu ft or how many m^3 are passed in 2 minutes) since you don't have
a meter. There may be other things I don't know: I haven't done LPG so I
don't know what I don't know, hence I'm not competent.

Bet you still run your blowtorch from it ;-)

Must admit that the extent of my tightness testing on LPG (for things
like blowtorches etc), is a quick spray with the can of parrot snot.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Tim S wrote:

Then again, caravans have loads of floor ventilation and you generally turn
the bottle off when hibernating them...

Wouldn't do it in a boat mind...

IIRC boat lockers are designed to drain over the side, and if you have
any sense you turn off the bottle before hibernating them.

I'm told it can be quite amusing watching someone who has had a gas leak
into the hull of a boat. The gas sinks into the bottom, and sits there.
The only way to get rid of it safely is to bail it out with a plastic
bucket. Which results in someone standing there bailing out what appear
to be empty buckets!

Andy (whose boat is far too small for anything like that!)

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:46:22 +0000, Owain
wrote:

Derek Geldard wrote:
They gave up looking for my arms and legs and I had to type this with
a headstick. Not bad Eh?

Do you also paint christmas cards with your mouth?


Not since the advent

- of "one button" colour copiers. They can't touch you for it ;-)

Derek