New NI gas safe register agreement

A new five-year Services Concession Agreement will commence on 1 April 2019.

There will be several changes and improvements during the new concession, including:

• A single UK-wide service that will operate across Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Revised inspection targets – by applying a risk-based approach to target inspections where they will have most impact, the number of inspections will reflect the number of businesses registered and the risk these businesses and their engineers represent
• Enabling registered engineers to more easily access data held about them (such as inspection history and findings, risk rating)
• A commitment to explore the benefits of introducing student registration
• The introduction of an advisory panel to the Register with representation from across the industry, focussing on the smaller businesses that are not represented on other industry platforms, to improve engagement and communication between the industry and the Register

The performance of the Gas Safe Register is measured against a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that monitor the key aspects of delivery of the scheme, such as consumer awareness of gas safety risks, consumer and engineer satisfaction with the service provided by the register, and the targeting of the scheme’s efforts in the areas where it will have greatest effect. The KPI’s are monitored on an ongoing basis, with annual targets, and there are financial and contractual implications if the Gas Safe Register fails to meet the targets set.