New gas servicing reporting portal

As communicated on 17 May, the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) is creating a new online portal for licensed gasfitters to submit a record of gas servicing work via our website.

The new portal will be available to use when the amendments to the Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations 2018 come into effect on 1 June 2022 – we will send an email with a link to the new portal when they do.

From 1 June 2022, gasfitters will be required to:

• comply with the requirements of AS 4575 in carrying out servicing work on Type A gas appliances.
• lodge a record of the standard gas installation work with the VBA (through a new online portal) within five days of completing the work.
• provide a copy of the record to the consumer within five days of completing the work.

The new portal automatically generates a copy of the submitted record to be sent to the consumer directly by email.

Learn more about the amendments to the Gas Safety (Gas Installation) Regulations 2018.

Through the portal, the licensed gasfitter will be required to record the following:

1. Details of the gasfitter who carried out the work.
2. Details (including business name and ABN) of the service provider.
3. Details of gasfitting work carried out, including any adjustments, replacements, testing and repairs.
4. Details of the Type A appliance(s) being serviced, including make, model, serial number and type of gas
5. A completed version of the checklist in Appendix E of AS 4575, including whether negative pressure was identified and whether there was any spillage of combustion products, such as carbon monoxide. The checklist can be submitted via email or through the online portal. Where the gasfitter has identified negative pressure or carbon monoxide spillage during this servicing attendance, the online checklist must be completed on the portal.
6. Customer email address so they automatically receive a copy of the submitted record.
7. Date the work was completed.
8. Declaration and signature.

The VBA will share a video guide to using the new portal next week. For now, you can access our FAQs for more information on the portal.

The requirement to report is expected to encourage higher AS 4575 compliance rates and quality of servicing by gasfitters, with a greater level of accountability and a reduction in the safety risk to building occupants posed by carbon monoxide spillage.

It will also empower the VBA with more complete information on gas servicing, enabling us to enhance our compliance activities, target interventions towards specific regions, gasfitters or appliances, and detect patterns to proactively avoid potential issues and incidents.

The consultation on changes to the regulations were undertaken by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) in February and March 2022, before the final regulations were released by DELWP on 17 May 2022.

The VBA is overseeing the implementation of these regulations and is supporting the industry in their understanding and compliance with them.

The VBA recognises that the regulations were only recently released and understands that the industry will need time to adjust to these changes.

The VBA compliance and enforcement approach will initially focus on supporting practitioners through education and support.

Read more information and FAQs.