Directive: Responsibilities of building owners and gas contractors

This Directive is being issued by a provincial safety manager pursuant to section 30 of the Safety Standards Act.

General details

This Directive is being issued to clarify the application of Sections 29 and 55 of the Gas Safety Regulation which set out the duties of commercial and industrial building owner’s gas contractors doing regulated work in commercial and industrial building and owners of rental premises.

Specific details

Section 29 of the Gas Safety Regulation requires owners of commercial and industrial buildings to:

• Have gas appliances with inputs between 221 kW and 1500 kW serviced, repaired and maintained by a licensed gas contractor;
• Retain records of services performed by the licensed gas contractor.

Section 29 of the Gas Safety Regulation requires gas contractors to:

• Provide documentation on an annual basis to the provincial safety manager on any regulated work performed on gas appliances with inputs between 221 kW and 1500 kW in commercial or industrial buildings.
• Documentation of regulated work must be supplied to a provincial safety manager in a form acceptable to the safety manager

Documentation of regulated work can be in any format written or electronic provided the following information is included:

1. Name of contractor
2. Date regulated work carried out
3. Equipment serviced, repaired or maintained including description of equipment, make, model and identification numbers
4. Reason for regulated work
5. Work carried out
6. Tests performed
7. Contractor’s representative's name and signature

Documentation shall be provided to the building owner annually and maintained in accordance with Section 29 subsection (3) of the Gas Safety Regulation so that the documents can be supplied to a safety manager on request.

Section 55 of the Gas Safety Regulation requires owners of rental premises to:

• Post a permanent notice explaining the safe operation of gas appliances installed within the premises;  
• Ensure all the gas appliances are maintained in a safe condition by a licensed gas contractor;
• Retain all gas appliance maintenance and service records for review. 

The maintenance interval for gas appliances should follow the requirements specified in the manufacturers certified installation instructions.  If the manufacturer’s instructions are not available, the appliance should be serviced annually.

A safety manager or safety officer may request maintenance records in accordance with the Safety Standards Act, s.18 (k).

The Gas Safety Regulation, s.34 stipulates that Inspection requests are only required for installation permits

Un-repairable appliances must be reported to a safety officer in accordance with the Gas Safety Regulation s.54.

Definitions – (from CSA B149.1)

Commercial building - means any building used in connection with direct trade with or service of the public

Industrial building - means any building used in connection with production or process work or with storage and warehousing. 

Rental premises - means land, a building or structure in, on or under which a regulated product is located or where regulated work is done and where payment and/or agreement is made to the owner for use of the property.

 

 

Brad Wyatt
Provincial Safety Manager, Gas 

 

 

References:
Safety Standards Act
Gas Safety Regulation
CSA B149.1 - Natural gas and propane installation code