The official list of businesses and engineers legally allowed to work on gas in the UK — what it is, why it matters, and a simple three-step way to check that the person at your door is genuinely qualified.
The Gas Safe Register is the official register of businesses and engineers who are legally allowed to carry out gas work in the United Kingdom. By law, anyone who installs, services, repairs or disconnects a gas appliance — including your boiler — must be on it. If an engineer isn't on the Gas Safe Register, they are not permitted to touch your gas boiler, full stop.
It replaced the old CORGI scheme on 1 April 2009 (CORGI Gas had run the register up to that point). So if a tradesperson still tells you they're "CORGI registered", that's a warning sign — CORGI has not been the gas safety body for well over a decade. The correct registration today is Gas Safe, and it covers England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Guernsey.
There are two reasons the register exists, and both should matter to you as a homeowner or tenant.
This is also why gas work is never a DIY job. You should never attempt to work on a gas valve, gas pipework, the flue, the sealed heating circuit, the pressure relief valve or anything behind the boiler casing. Those are gas-safety components, and getting them wrong risks a leak, a fire or carbon monoxide. The homeowner-safe tasks are limited — things like bleeding a radiator, topping up pressure via the filling loop, a single front-panel reset, checking the thermostat or fuse, or thawing a frozen external condensate pipe. Anything beyond that means it's time to book a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Checking is quick, free and worth doing every time — even with a firm you've used before, because individual engineers hold their own qualifications. Here's the simple version.
Go to gassaferegister.co.uk and use the "Check the Register" search. You can search by the engineer's licence number, the business name, or your postcode to find registered businesses near you. The result confirms whether the business is currently registered and which broad categories of gas work it's authorised to carry out. You can also phone Gas Safe Register on 0800 408 5500 to check.
Every registered engineer carries a Gas Safe ID card, and a good one will happily show it without being asked. Don't be shy about requesting it — professionals expect it. The card has a photo, a start and expiry date, a unique licence number and a security hologram. Always check the card is in date; an expired card means the engineer's registration may have lapsed.
Turn the card over. The back of the card lists the specific categories of gas work the engineer is qualified to do — for example domestic boilers, cookers, gas fires or commercial catering. Make sure the work you need (say, a domestic boiler) is actually listed. Then check the licence number on the card matches the one shown in the register search from Step 1. If the number, the photo and the work category all line up, you've confirmed the right person is doing the right job.
The card is designed so you can verify it in seconds. The two sides carry different information:
| Front of the card | Back of the card |
|---|---|
| Engineer's photo | The specific categories of gas work they're qualified for |
| Unique 7-digit licence number | Whether each category covers installation, maintenance or both |
| Start date and expiry date | The type of appliances they can work on (e.g. boilers, cookers, fires) |
| Security hologram | Confirmation the qualifications are current |
The key habit is this: the front tells you who and whether they're current; the back tells you what they're allowed to do. Both matter — an engineer can be genuinely registered yet not qualified for your particular appliance.
Boiler-cover and home-emergency plans only ever send Gas Safe registered engineers to your home, so the registration check is effectively built in when you claim. Most plans also expect your boiler to have been installed and serviced correctly — by a registered engineer — and pre-existing or DIY-related faults are commonly excluded. Keeping your installation and service paperwork (and the engineer's details) is sensible proof that the work was done properly.
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No. CORGI ran gas registration until 1 April 2009, when the Gas Safe Register took over as the official UK gas safety body. If a tradesperson describes themselves as "CORGI registered" today, treat it as a red flag — the correct current registration is Gas Safe.
Search by licence number, business name or postcode at gassaferegister.co.uk, or call 0800 408 5500. Then ask to see the engineer's Gas Safe ID card, check it's in date, and match the licence number and work categories to your search result.
The front shows a photo, a unique licence number, start and expiry dates and a security hologram. The back lists the specific categories of gas work the engineer is qualified to carry out — make sure your job (for example a domestic boiler) is included.
No. By law, only a Gas Safe registered engineer can install, service, repair or disconnect a gas appliance. Using an unregistered person is illegal, can void your warranty and cover, and is a genuine safety risk.
You can report it to Gas Safe Register, who investigate illegal and unsafe gas work. If you smell gas or suspect carbon monoxide, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 first.
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Compare boiler coverThis article is general information about UK gas safety registration, not personal advice. Gas work must always be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Registration details and processes can change — always confirm an engineer's current status directly with Gas Safe Register.