Gas Fitting: What You Can and Cannot Do Yourself

In Australia, gas fitting is one of the most strictly regulated trades. For good reason — a faulty gas installation can cause an explosion, carbon monoxide poisoning, or a house fire. The law is clear: most gas work must be performed by a licensed gas fitter, and DIY gas work is not just dangerous — it's illegal.

Here's what you can and cannot do, and why the rules exist.

What You Can Do Yourself

Very little. As a homeowner, you can:

• Turn off your gas supply at the meter in an emergency
• Relight a pilot light on a gas appliance (if the manufacturer's instructions are provided and it's a routine relight, not a repair)
• Clean a gas burner on a cooktop (surface cleaning only, no disassembly)
• Change a gas bottle on an LPG system (connecting and disconnecting the regulator to the bottle)

That's about it. Everything else — every connection, every pipe, every valve — requires a licensed gas fitter.

What Requires a Licensed Gas Fitter

• Installing or replacing any gas appliance — cooktop, oven, heater, hot water system, BBQ bayonet
• Running or extending gas pipework — any new pipe, any modification to existing pipe
• Repairing a gas leak — no matter how small
• Installing a gas bayonet point for a heater or BBQ
• Converting an appliance from LPG to natural gas or vice versa
• Relocating a gas appliance to a new position
• Commissioning a new gas installation and issuing a compliance certificate

Why DIY Gas Work Is Dangerous

Carbon Monoxide

Incomplete combustion of gas produces carbon monoxide (CO) — a colourless, odourless gas that's deadly in enclosed spaces. A poorly installed or incorrectly adjusted gas appliance can produce CO at dangerous levels without you knowing. Symptoms start as headaches and dizziness and progress to unconsciousness and death.

A licensed gas fitter tests every installation for CO and ensures the flue and ventilation are correct.

Gas Leaks and Explosions

Gas is highly flammable. A tiny leak from a poorly made joint can accumulate in a cupboard or ceiling space and ignite from a spark — a light switch, a fan motor, even static electricity. Professional gas fitters pressure-test every joint and use gas detectors to confirm a gas-tight installation.

Insurance and Compliance

If you do unlicensed gas work and it causes damage, your insurance won't cover you. If you sell the house, the buyer's inspector will flag non-compliant gas work. And if someone is injured, you're personally liable.

Every gas installation in NSW must be issued with a compliance certificate — the legal proof that the work was done by a licensed professional to current standards. Without it, the work is illegal.

Signs You Need a Gas Fitter

• You smell gas (rotten-egg odour) inside or outside
• A gas appliance won't stay lit or the pilot keeps going out
• You see soot or scorch marks around a burner or flue
• The flame on your cooktop is yellow or lazy instead of crisp blue
• You're renovating and need to move or install a gas appliance

If you smell gas, turn off the gas at the meter, open doors and windows, avoid sparks and flames, and call 0452 317 892 immediately.

At Tru Blu Plumbing, we're fully licensed gas fitters (Lic. 500177C). Every gas job we complete is pressure-tested, leak-tested, and issued with a NSW compliance certificate. Call 0452 317 892 for safe, certified gas work.