A person who is good with radiators is not automatically allowed to break a gas seal. In Great Britain, work on gas appliances, fittings and flues is controlled by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The public register of people allowed to do that work is Gas Safe Register. This page is the rule. For what a replacement boiler usually costs, use boiler replacement costs.
Ten businesses on this directory show Gas Safe on the profile: six in London, three in Manchester, one in Bristol. A mark appears only when it is there. Absence on the card is not a reason to skip the question on the call.
What Gas Safe is — and is not
Gas Safe is the official list that replaced CORGI. An engineer should be able to show a licence card with a number you can check on the Gas Safe Register website. The card is for named people and the kinds of gas work they are registered for. A company name on a van is not the same as the person in your cupboard being on the register for boilers.
It is not a review score. It is not insurance sold by this site. It is not MCS. MCS is the certification the Boiler Upgrade Scheme expects for an eligible heat-pump install. You can need both people on a larger project. You cannot substitute one mark for the other.
Northern Ireland uses a different gas-competence regime. Glasgow and Edinburgh still use Gas Safe for gas work; they do not sit inside the England-and-Wales Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Keep the register and the grant in separate sentences.
Which jobs sit on the register
Installing, exchanging or servicing a gas boiler, connecting or disconnecting gas pipework, working on a gas fire or cooker, and work on a flue that serves a gas appliance are the usual household jobs that need a registered person. Bleeding a radiator or using a filling loop the handbook documents is not, by itself, gas work — until someone starts undoing a gas joint to “just have a look”.
Landlord gas safety checks (often called a CP12 in conversation) are a tenancy duty. Six businesses here mention landlord certificates. Ask for the certificate number and the date. That paper is not a heat-pump grant and it is not a repair quote.
- Ask for the individual licence number, not only the firm name.
- Check it on the Gas Safe Register site before the visit if you can.
- Ask whether they are registered for the appliance type in your house (boiler, cooker, fire).
- Ask what notice they leave: service, Benchmark, landlord certificate, or a “not to use” warning.
Why this sits under Grants on this site
The grants column is for money and for statutory marks that change who you should call. Gas Safe is the second kind. Treating it as a discount is how people hear “£7,500” and book a gas combi. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme amount on GOV.UK is a heat-pump discount claimed by an MCS installer. A Gas Safe engineer may also be MCS-certified. Most are not, and none of the cards here show MCS.
If you smell gas
Do not start a quote. Get out. Call the Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Do not use electrical switches as you leave. Do not phone a directory, and do not wait for a “first available engineer” if you can smell gas or the carbon monoxide alarm is sounding.
A locked-out boiler with a fault code and no smell of gas is a planned or same-day repair. A smell of gas is an emergency line. Keep those two calls separate.
What to have on a planned call
Have the boiler make and model, the fault code, and whether you are a tenant. Ask if the person coming is Gas Safe for that appliance. Ask whether the first figure is a diagnosis, a repair or a replacement, and whether VAT is on top. For a replacement band, use the cost page. For a heat-pump grant, use the Boiler Upgrade Scheme notes.
This site does not email the engineer. Open plumbing in London, Manchester or Bristol and use the number on the card. Ask for the licence number before anyone opens the case.
Questions before you let someone open the boiler
Is Gas Safe a grant?
No. It is the official register for gas work in Great Britain. A grant such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a separate pot with a different mark (MCS).
Can I work on my own boiler?
Gas work on appliances and fittings is restricted. Using a filling loop the handbook documents is not the same as breaking a gas joint. If you are unsure, stop and call a registered engineer.
What if I smell gas?
Leave the property and call 0800 111 999. Do not use this directory as an emergency dispatch line.
Where do I find a Gas Safe engineer?
Open a plumbing city list, then ask for and check the individual licence number. Ten cards here already show the mark; others may still hold it. This site does not verify a visitor’s card.
Need a heating engineer’s number?
Open plumbing and heating and contact the business yourself. Ask for the Gas Safe licence number on the call.