12
Gas
news
Technical guidance
bulletins updated
ESV has recently updated a
number of technical guidance
bulletins. ESV gas engineer
Tyler Mason reports on the
changes.
ESV has updated five technical guidance
bulletins on behalf of the Gas Technical
Regulators Committee (GTRC).
New or changed gas appliance
requirements are described for area heaters,
fire pits, portable unflued water heaters, butane
cookers and domestic cooking appliances.
Detailing the changes
» » Technical Guidance Bulletin 6
Area heaters and Table Top Heaters has
been revised to address comments related
to the terminology used for the description
of appliances types. A note has also been
added explaining NSW Fair Trading’s
position on these appliances.
» » Technical Guidance Bulletin 8
Fire pits has been heavily revised following
consideration and feedback from the
industry and standards committees.
» » Technical Guidance Bulletin 9
Portable unflued water heaters has been
published. This document lays out new
construction and performance requirements
for portable water heaters to prevent
their mounting onto buildings or incorrect
installation to fixed piping systems.
» » Technical Guidance Bulletin 10
Portable butane cookers is the culmination
of a great deal of work into these appliances
undertaken by the regulatory authorities.
Not that long ago these products were
withdrawn from shelves due to unreliable
safety cut-outs and a number of incidents
across Australia. This new bulletin lays
Gas installations
in bushfire-
prone areas
By Enzo Alfonsetti, Manager Type A Gas
Appliance and Component Safety and
AG006 Chairman
AS3959 – Construction of building in
bushfire-prone areas is currently being
revised by Standards Australia’s FP20
out new safety features that will ensure a
greater level of safety in these appliances
in the future.
» » Technical Guidance Bulletin 11
Transitional requirements for the
implementation of flame failure on
domestic cookers contains the transitional
arrangements for the inclusion of a
flame safeguard on all domestic cooking
appliances manufactured under an
Australian certification after 1 July 2017.
Some confusion existed out in the industry
and amongst the certification bodies as
to whether the 1 July date meant that old
stock could no longer be sold.
Process for approving changes
As the technical regulator responsible
for overseeing the safe use of gas in Victoria,
ESV provides significant input into Standards
Australia committees as well as input into
the GTRC.
The GTRC is a forum for Gas Technical
and Safety Regulatory Authorities across
Australia and New Zealand to collaborate on
improvements to gas safety, measurement,
quality outcomes and driving change.
Driving changes to Standards can be a long
and laborious process, so when changes are
required quickly the GTRC is able to publish
bulletins detailing these desired changes.
These bulletins are then referred to the
relevant Standards Australia committee for
inclusion in the Standard. As a part of the
Standards Australia process, changes to
standards still requires consultation and
consensus from all relevant stakeholders on
those committees.
Across all jurisdictions in Australia, all gas
appliances are required to be certified by one
of the five recognised certification bodies (AGA,
SAI Global, IAPMO, Global-Mark and Vipac),
who are all expected to implement these
bulletins.
committee and it is anticipated
that a draft for public comment will
be available in the first half
of this year.
In my capacity as Chair of the AG006
Committee, I have raised a number of gas
installation issues for the FP20 Committee
to consider in the revision of AS3959 that
will also impact on requirements in the gas
installation standard AS/NZS5601.1.
These include:
exposed above-ground multilayered
composite pipe external to buildings
gas appliance flues and flues of
Celebrating
World
Plumbing Day
ESV staff helped mark World Plumbing
Day by taking part in activities at the
Plumbing Industry Climate Action
Centre on 10 March.
The aim of the international day is to
promote the vital role plumbing plays in
societal health and wellbeing.
More than 1.1 billion people around
the world lack access to a safe, clean
water supply and 2.6 billion do not enjoy
the use of effective sanitation systems.
Gas inspectors Laurie Devitt and
Simon Prouse (pictured above) and Doug
Rennie (below) were among the ESV staff
who manned an information stand to
promote ESV’s role in gasfitting in Victoria,
including the launch of our new