How often should commercial gas appliances be serviced?
Most commercial gas appliances should be serviced at the interval in the manufacturer’s instructions, which for most boilers, water heaters and catering equipment is once a year. The law itself sets no date. It makes whoever controls the workplace keep the gas appliances, pipework and flues in a safe condition, and HSE says that maintenance should follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Where there are none, a yearly service and safety check is the accepted minimum.
Two different visits
A business usually needs two kinds of visit, and they are not the same thing.
A service keeps the appliance working properly. The engineer cleans and adjusts it, checks the burner, the combustion and the controls, and replaces worn parts. How often is set by the maker.
A gas safety check confirms the appliance, the pipework and the flue are safe to use, and records it. At a business the usual record is a CP17. In a commercial kitchen it is a CP42, which also covers the kitchen as a whole, including the interlock that links the gas supply to the ventilation. Neither form is named in law. They are the industry’s usual way of showing the legal duty has been met.
Both can often be done in one visit, by the same Gas Safe registered engineer.
What the law asks
The duty is regulation 35 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Every employer, and every self employed person, must make sure that any gas appliance, installation pipework or flue at a place of work under their control is maintained in a safe condition. Regulation 3 adds that anyone working on gas must be competent, and a business doing gas work must be on the Gas Safe Register.
For catering, HSE’s guidance on gas safety in catering and hospitality says the frequency of inspection and servicing should follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, and that a yearly inspection is, as a general rule, a reasonable minimum.
Where people sleep in the building, such as hotel rooms, staff accommodation or flats above a shop, regulation 36 adds a second duty: a gas safety check every year, with a written record, for the appliances and flues that serve those rooms.
A simple schedule
| Appliance | Service | Safety check and record |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial boilers and plant rooms | As the maker says, usually yearly | Yearly, on a CP17 |
| Gas water heaters | As the maker says, usually yearly | Yearly, on a CP17 |
| Catering appliances | As the maker says | Yearly as a minimum, on a CP42 |
| Gas serving rooms where people sleep | As the maker says | Every year by law, with a record |
A large plant room, or a site with several boilers, often works better on planned maintenance: visits booked ahead on a schedule, rather than waiting for something to fail.
When to check sooner
Do not wait for the next date if:
- an appliance has been moved, altered or newly fitted
- a boiler keeps locking out, or a fault keeps coming back
- flames burn yellow or orange instead of blue, or there is soot or staining around an appliance
- a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, or staff feel unwell near gas equipment
- the kitchen’s ventilation or interlock has failed or been changed
If anyone smells gas, follow the steps in what to do if you smell gas first. A service visit comes after the building is safe.
Keeping the records
Keep each service report and each safety certificate together, by appliance and by date. An inspector, an insurer or a client’s approved supplier check may ask to see them, and a missing record is hard to explain after a fault. For a building with several sites or many appliances, one contractor holding the schedule makes the dates much easier to keep.
Booking a check
Neos Engineering carries out commercial boiler servicing, CP17 checks, and CP42 checks in commercial kitchens across London, with work that needs the gas off booked outside opening hours. The prices and what each check covers are on our commercial gas safety page, and boilers on the commercial boiler service page. For the British Standards behind commercial boilers, see commercial boiler servicing: the law and the standards.
If you need us
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Call any hour, email us, or get a price in under a minute. The hourly rate is confirmed when you book. A call out is charged by the hour, and a return visit or further work is quoted first.