Gas Safe boiler repairs: how gas work is handled

Gas work is carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers. In Great Britain it is illegal for anyone else to work on a gas boiler, cooker, fire or gas pipe for payment, and you are entitled to check the person in front of you before they start.

If you smell gas

The free national gas emergency line is 0800 111 999, and it answers day and night. It is the call to make, from outside, before you call any plumber, including us.

Do these in order:

1. Open doors and windows to let the gas clear.
2. If you can reach the gas meter safely, turn the lever on the pipe next to it (the emergency control valve) so it sits across the pipe rather than along it. That shuts off the supply. If the meter is in a cellar or basement, do not go down to it; just leave.
3. Do not switch lights or appliances on or off, and do not use a doorbell or anything else that could spark. No naked flames, no cigarettes, no lighters.
4. Get everyone out of the property, without using a lift, and make the call to 0800 111 999 from outside, on a mobile or a neighbour’s phone.

The emergency service makes the supply safe. It does not repair your boiler or appliance. If they cap off an appliance, it stays off until a Gas Safe registered engineer has repaired it and tested it. Our smell of gas guide covers each step in more detail.

If you think there is carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide has no smell. The warning signs are a carbon monoxide alarm sounding, or headaches, dizziness, nausea, tiredness or breathlessness that lift once you are outside and return when you go back in. Pets falling ill at the same time is another sign.

Open windows, turn off the appliance if you can do so safely, get outside into fresh air and call 0800 111 999. Then get medical advice: call NHS 111, or 999 if symptoms are severe or anyone has collapsed or is confused.

Signs that an appliance may be burning badly, even without symptoms:

• a floppy yellow or orange flame on a gas hob or fire instead of a sharp blue one
• dark soot staining around the boiler casing, a gas fire or the flue
• a pilot flame that won't stay lit
• windows in the room with the appliance misting up far more than normal

A carbon monoxide alarm is cheap and is the only reliable warning. Fit one in every room with a gas or solid fuel appliance. Look for BS EN 50291 on the box. Our guide to carbon monoxide signs from a boiler explains what to look for.

What counts as gas work on a boiler

Anything inside the boiler casing is for an engineer: the burner, gas valve, fan, flue, heat exchanger, circuit board and the seals of the combustion chamber. Opening the case of a gas appliance is not a householder check, however simple the fault looks.

What you can safely do yourself on a boiler that has stopped:

• read the pressure gauge and, on a sealed system, top it back up to the level in the manual
• press the reset button once; if it locks out again, leave it
• check the fused spur switch next to the boiler and the thermostat settings
• in freezing weather, thaw the plastic condensate pipe outside with warm (not boiling) water
• bleed radiators that are cold at the top

Our boiler breakdown guides and boiler fault code guides explain these checks in detail and say when to stop.

Checking your engineer

Every registered engineer carries a Gas Safe ID card, and a genuine engineer expects to be asked for it before starting. Our guide on how to check the Gas Safe Register shows what the card should say and how to confirm it against the register.

After a gas repair

When a gas repair is finished the engineer tests the appliance before leaving: that it lights and runs properly, that it is burning cleanly and that the flue is taking the fumes away. Ask them to show you the readings if you want to see them.

Landlords

Landlords must keep the gas fittings and flues they provide safe, have every appliance and flue checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer every 12 months, and give existing tenants the record within 28 days of the check (new tenants before they move in). A breakdown repair does not replace the annual check. If a tenant reports a gas smell, they should call 0800 111 999 first and you second. Our landlord emergency plumbing page covers repairs in let properties.

Booking a boiler repair

If there is no smell of gas and you need the boiler looked at, use the contact form. The call-out and how the repair price is agreed are set out on our pricing page.