Manufacturing recreational vehicles with gas installations
All gas installations must be installed in accordance with Part 1 of the gas installation code, NZS 5261. One means of achieving this is by installing to the requirements of the caravan code, NZS 5428.
Installers have an obligation to be satisfied that any gas appliance or fitting they install complies with safety requirements of regulations 13 and 14 of the Gas Regulations (that it is, safe and correctly marked). Installers also have an obligation to ensure that the appliance is supported by a current and valid supplier declaration on the Energy Safety website. (If you import or manufacture gas appliances you must also comply with the obligations on appliance suppliers).
The Gas Regulations require an installer, licensed under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act (PGD Act), to certify most gasfitting work. The installer will usually be a licensed craftsman gasfitter, or someone who carries an exemption under the Act.
The definition of gasfitting in the 1976 PGD Act excludes work on installations that are fed from an LPG supply system that has a total connected capacity of less than 15 kilograms of LPG. In other words, an installation that is to be connected to a single nine kilogram cylinder is not considered gasfitting, but if it is to be connected to anything greater than 15 kilograms, then the work must be completed (and certified) by a worker licensed under the Act.
A new version of the PGD Act was enacted in 2006. The Act includes a new and updated definition of gasfitting. The most substantive change introduced is that work on installations supplied from small (less than 15 kg capacity)
LPG cylinders will be brought under the licensing regime. This will affect installations such as most of those in caravans and boats, and those involving a fixed cooking hob supplied from a small cylinder. This part of the new Act is yet to be enacted.
A recreational vehicle fitted with a gas appliance is a gas installation. Energy Safety considers the following items are critical for safety. For each gas installation, all manufacturers must:
- ensure that every gas appliance installed is safe in all reasonably foreseeable circumstances (regulation 13);
- ensure that each gas appliance installed is marked in accordance with section 5 of the appliance standard NZS 5262 (regulation 14);
- ensure that every gas appliance obtained in New Zealand has a supplier declaration (regulation 15F);and
- ensure that the installation meets the essential safety requirements in Part 1 of NZS 5261 (regulation 12).
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