Thinking of adding commercial gas to your existing skills? This article looks at how to become commercial gas qualified. It explores the progression route from domestic to commercial gas, what additional commercial gas training and ACS you need and what that means for Gas Safe registration and the type of work you can do.
A commercial gas engineer course is designed to develop the relevant competencies or skills that you’d need to work in a commercial gas setting. That’s things like installations, pipework and commercial gas appliances. You’ll also need to be assessed on these to prove your competence. That’s done in a similar way to the domestic gas, so that’s ACS, then add the categories to update your existing Gas Safe registration.
Domestic versus commercial gas engineering
It’s obvious to think of ‘domestic’ as being residential or houses, and ‘commercial’ as being for businesses, but the definition isn’t quite that clear-cut when it comes to the gas industry.
Domestic gas engineers cannot work on commercial gas appliances. They are not qualified or registered to do so. In fact, it’s actually illegal in the UK to work on any appliances that you don’t hold Gas Safe Registration for.
Not only are the core assessments different, but with any area of gas work, the ACS beyond the core qualifications is appliance- and specialism-dependent. Just because you’re qualified to work on a gas fire in someone’s home doesn’t mean you’re qualified to work on a gas-fired heating system in a school.
So, while ‘commercial’ does, broadly speaking, mean business environments like shops, factories, or offices, the distinctions are based on appliance specifications, pipe dimensions and gas volume, not just the setting they are used in.
How to become a commercial gas engineer
To become a commercial gas engineer, there are two training course routes. If you’re already working in domestic gas and you hold current relevant ACS and Gas Safe Registration status, then there are “changeover” courses available, as you’ll have the base knowledge and practical skills. This is the most common route.
The core gas safety qualifications
- Core Domestic Gas Safety qualification CCN1
- Core Commercial Gas Safety COCN1
- Changeover Core Domestic to Core Commercial Natural Gas Safety CODNCO1
Just like the domestic gas ACS, the commercial gas assessments include additional pipework and appliance assessment modules. Any commercial gas assessment candidate must first hold either Core Commercial Gas Safety (COCN1) or a changeover Core Gas Safety Domestic to Commercial (CODNCO1) before taking the appliance and pipework assessments.
New entrants gas training
If you’re new to the industry, but you want to get straight into commercial gas work, there are some training providers that offer a direct MLP (Managed Learning Programme) for commercial. However, it’s usual to be a domestic gas engineer first, so you’re already holding a Core Domestic Gas Safety and have Gas Safe Registration.
If you’re considering commercial gas, but aren’t already working as a domestic gas engineer, we’d recommend starting with a new entrant’s gas training first, then upskilling to commercial.
Domestic to commercial gas engineer
Let’s look at this most common route, which assumes that you’re already working as a domestic gas engineer (heating or boiler engineer). In which case, you’ll already have done an MLP, portfolio and hold relevant ACS. You’ll also have a current Gas Safe Registration.
To become a commercial gas engineer at this point, you can choose a Commercial Gas Changeover Course. This gives you the missing areas of training and the relevant core ACS for commercial work: the CODNCO1 (Changeover Core Domestic to Core Commercial Natural Gas Safety).
Commercial gas engineer qualifications
The commercial gas qualifications in the UK are ACS (Accredited Certification Scheme). They’re a set of assessments. So, a commercial ACS course covers the relevant commercial ACS training and qualifications.
As we’ve already established, there’s the core commercial certificate of competence that can be achieved by taking the full core assessment COCN1 or CODNCO1. That’s the first step before the relevant assessments for pipework and appliances.
Which modules you need will depend on the nature of the work you want to do. Your Gas Safe Registration is specific; it depends on what work you want to do as you need to hold the relevant ACS for installation, testing, or appliances specific to your registration.
Categories of commercial gas work
The different types of commercial gas work are defined by the Gas Safe ID card work categories. As the Gas Safe Register explains: ‘In simple terms, all engineers must undertake a general or core safety element before expanding into other qualifications for different areas/types of work they wish to offer.’
When people talk about the commercial gas ACS qualification, they are usually referring to the commercial equivalent of the Core Domestic Gas Safety qualification (or changeover equivalent), as this is the first qualification a commercial gas engineer needs to hold.
Examples of commercial ACS qualifications
- COCN1 Core Commercial Gas Safety
- TPCP1A Testing & Purging Pipework up to 6” (150mm)
- ICPN1 Installation of Pipework in excess of 28mm
- CORT1 Overhead Radiant Tube Heaters
- CDGA1 Direct Fired Commercial Appliances
- CIGA1 Indirect Fired Commercial Appliances
In addition to the above, there are specialised core qualifications and relevant changeover qualifications for commercial catering, commercial laundry, gas metering, LPG, and Emergency Service providers.
Commercial gas engineer training
The commercial gas changeover course is aimed at existing domestic gas engineers. Think of it like a domestic to commercial gas course. It takes three weeks to complete and, if successful, results in a CODNCO1 qualification. To be eligible to do this course, you need to first hold a domestic ACS and be Gas Safe Registered.
Gas Safe Registration for commercial gas work
To work on gas in the UK, it’s a legal requirement to be registered with Gas Safe. Once you have the relevant commercial gas ACS qualifications, you can contact Gas Safe to add commercial work to your registration. Subject to additional fees, they’ll update your ID card with the new categories.
Adding commercial work doesn’t initiate a new probationary period with Gas Safe; that’s only applicable to new businesses or businesses that are re-registering.
FAQs about commercial gas training
Can I work on commercial boilers with a domestic ACS?
No, you can’t do any commercial work if you only hold domestic ACS, as Gas Safe registration is appliance- and area-specific.
Can I add commercial gas to my domestic Gas Safe registration?
Once you have the relevant qualifications, you can add commercial work categories to your existing Gas Safe registration.
Does commercial gas mean gas for business premises?
Commercial gas does usually refer to non-residential properties; however, the distinction isn’t made by setting alone. There are other factors including pipe dimensions, appliance specification and volume.
How long does it take to do a commercial gas course?
For existing domestic gas engineers, a commercial gas changeover course takes 3 weeks.
What’s the difference between CODNCO1 and COCN1?
COCN1 is the Core Commercial Gas Safety. CODNCO1 is the Changeover Core Domestic to Core Commercial Natural Gas Safety. Both are core gas safety, but CODNCO1 is suitable for domestic gas engineers looking to transfer to commercial gas.
Getting started: Commercial gas engineer course at Able Skills
“The commercial gas safety course is very well designed, and the training is far more comprehensive than the other training centres that are around. This means you’re more confident to work on the various gas appliances once qualified.” – Review via Trustpilot.
At Able Skills, we are incredibly proud of our commercial gas engineer training, both of the level of instruction and our top-class training facilities.
If you’d like any information or have any questions about our commercial gas engineer course, contact us today by phone or email.
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