Alan de Enfield

When filling diving oxygen cylinders a great deal of care has to be taken - all of the equipment (hose, regulators, the cylinders etc if the cylinder has previously had 'air' in it it must be flushed) has to be thoroughly cleaned. When working with Oxygen at 200 bar (about 3500 psi) it can make quite a 'bang' if it makes contact with oil or grease.

C&RT do not have any legal responsibility to provide, toilets, potable water, or waste disposal - in fact the Waterways legislation specifically states that they can charge if such services are provided. Don't poke the bear - you may regret it.

An interesting, yet flawed, comparison. There are several million vehicles on the UK roads which are MOT exempt, and their owners are effectively self-certifiying them as safe and roadworthy.

And who do you think provides the answers to the technical questions asked by the RCD bureaucrats ? When manufacturers need a techinical question answering they ask the RECREATIONAL CRAFT SECTORAL GROUP (RSG) who discuss with the necessary experts, have a meeting about it and then pronounce a decision, which is then endorsed by the RCD/RCR Example :

You are correct - if the ISOs are not followed then an RCD/RCR "notified body" is required to undertake tests showing that at least equivalent performance is met. All additional cost and hassle .......................... Follow the ISOs and you get "automatic presumption of conformity" Me to. Edit to add (from the RSG) Article 31: Presumption of conformity Where a conformity assessment body demonstrates its conformity with the criteria laid down in the relevant harmonised standards or parts thereof the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union it shall be presumed to comply with the requirements set out in Article 30 in so far as the applicable harmonised standards cover those requirements. If the ISO standards are not followed : 4. Verification of conformity by examination and testing of every product 4.1. All products shall be individually examined and appropriate tests set out in the relevant harmonised standard(s) and/or technical specifications, or equivalent tests, shall be carried out in order to verify conformity with the approved type described in the EC-type examination certificate and with the appropriate requirements of the legislative instrument. In the absence of such a harmonised standard, the notified body concerned shall decide on the appropriate tests to be carried out. 4.2. The notified body shall issue a certificate of conformity in respect of the examinations and tests carried out, and shall affix its identification number to each approved product or have it affixed under its responsibility.The manufacturer shall keep the certificates of conformity available for inspection by the national authorities for 10 years after the product has been placed on the market.

But - there are forum members on here who insist that building an RCD/RCR compliant boat does not require the builder to comply with the relevant ISO standards.

Yes, thankyou, that is what I do.

Knowlegable "engineers".

You obviously did open an account, and entered you bank/card details but then forgot to cancel the charges on future months. I regularly get offers of one-month Amazon prime free of charge - then £7.99/month. You just have to be organised enough to cancel it before the 'end of the month'. SWMBO signed up for a trial of an expensive cat foot (£1 per 100g tin) at a 75% reduction in price - problem being, she went away on holiday for 6 weeks and didn't give it a thought, when a shipment arrived I thought nothing of it (I did not know about the 1st discounted shipment). Then, another shipment arrived and I thought this is odd - looked at the bank statement and there are two decuctions for £56 each. I phoned the company up and explained that SWMBO had some 'difficulties' and often bought stuff we didn't need, or want, anyway they let me cancel the contract despite it being a 12 month contract.

But we should remember that this "gas rule" is nothing to do with the BSS, it is a Government regulation that gas-work on residential buildings / property is required to comply with. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2451/contents (But - I agree with you, were we Liveaboards when we spent 6 months a year cruising, are you a Liveaboard if you spend the weekend on board ? Maybe, if the BSS thinks the gas-regs are a good idea, then they should include the "surveyor/examiner must be gas registered rule" for any boat with gas fitted. PS - our static caravans are required to have LPG registered (caravan ticket) Engineers to work on them)

That's what the BSS say you must do if you use a non approved gas examiner to do your BSS keeping on the right side of the law Boats used for residential purposes as well as hire boats* and floating businesses* (such as cafés or shops) all fall within scope of the Gas Safety [Installation and Use] Regulations (GSIUR) and as such any LPG 'work' must be undertaken by Gas Safe registered installers. As the definition of 'work' covers the removal and replacement of a screw nipple on a gas test point, the scope of the GSIUR includes carrying out BSS LPG tightness test. So, on a boat in scope of GSIUR, examiners who are not Gas Safe registered can only complete check 7.12.2 by either: undertaking a gas tightness test using a bubble tester where fitted and correctly located; or, observing the tightness test conducted by a (LPG boats-competent) Gas Safe registered installer It is important to be aware that people who are prosecuted and found guilty of contravening the GSIUR, can face fines of up to £5000 for each offence or even jail terms for very serious breaches. The HSE and local authorities are active in pursuing people not complying with the regulations, especially where hazards have arisen. Check in advance If you are not Gas Safe registered, as part of your initial dealings with owners when booking the examination, please try to protect yourself by tackling the issue in advance of turning up at the mooring. Ask if the boat has a gas system, then find out whether the boat's use will put it in scope. We suggest the following questions: Is the boat hired out in the course of a business (This may include timeshare/shared-ownership boats where there is letting involved in some of the timeslots)? Is the boat used primarily by anyone for domestic or residential purposes (In this matter, it makes no difference to you if it is owner-occupied or rented-out)? Do you invite people on board your boat in the course of a business, e.g. is it a café or shop? If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then in order to carry out the BSS gas tightness test you will either have to use a fitted bubble tester, or observe a Gas Safe registered installer carrying out the test with a manometer. Even if the answer to all the questions above is 'no', you are recommended to make a brief record that you have asked the questions and received the negative answers *NB. Remember that in the event the boat is a hire boat, third-party managed share-owned boat, trip boat, rented residential boat or floating business, you must also have been trained and assessed to the 2002 BSS requirements. If you are Gas Safe registered: This concerns any differences between, i) the published Examiner instructions to take actions beyond recording a BSS fault as set out in the Examination Checking Procedures including Appendices A & B, and ii) the detailed provisions of the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure (GIUSP). The following is agreed with HSE and is provided to help you make the right choices in the field. The BSS recognises that a Gas Safe registered BSS Examiner when carrying out a BSS examination of a boat in scope of GSIUR, will be subject to the rules of his/her Gas Safe register rules of registration. Accordingly, it is a fact that Gas Safe registered BSS Examiners, whilst carrying out BSS examinations of boats in scope of GSIUR are subject to a duty not to overlook any circumstance that may be covered by GIUSP. The GIUSP is an industry document designed to assist Gas Safe registered gas engineers with identifying common unsafe situations and providing guidance on “classifying” them and taking action in dealing with any issues. The BSS has a similar process to the GIUSP including the ‘at risk’ and ‘immediately dangerous’ categories relevant to any circumstance warranting its application by BSS Examiners. Many of the circumstances listed within GIUSP are mirrored in BSS warning notice and hazardous boat procedures (i.e. leaking gas and evidence of escaping flue products, and significant accommodation space ventilation deficiencies) and most are captured by BSS LPG requirements. However, some of the GIUSP unsafe situations are not currently covered by BSS warning notice and hazardous boat procedures perhaps because: they would not be apparent to a BSS Examiner carrying out the set of visual and manual checks; the BSS adopts a presumption of good installation practice where items would not be apparent to the Examiner at the time of the BSS examination; the measures are relevant to the domestic home environment and not to boats; and/or, because the BSS Risk Management Process has not identified or included them as a necessary BSS minimum safety requirement. It is recognised that the consequence of this situation is that there is a potential for Gas Safe registered BSS Examiners, whilst carrying out a BSS examination of a boat in scope of GSIUR, to feel duty-bound under their Gas Safe registration to report to boat owners, and act on safety-related LPG items beyond those items covered by the BSS Requirements. In these circumstances, two actions are incumbent on Gas Safe registered BSS Examiners, to avoid any potential breach of the BSS Examiner Conditions of Registration: any intended course of action in dealing with any GIUSP issues not covered by the BSS procedures must be undertaken by way of a separate contract with the customer and the customer must be in no doubt that the intended action is not associated with the contract for the BSS examination; a complete BSS examination, fully in-line with the BSS ECPs and guidance and instructions, must be undertaken before the customer is made aware of any GIUSP issues. You are also strongly guided to advise your customers in advance that there could be circumstances, separate to the BSS requirements and BSS Examination contract, that they are dutybound not to overlook under their Gas Safe registration.

Surely when it leaked 6 months ago that was "out of season" and a repair could have been undertaken with minimum inconvenience.

Eggsactly - the worse time possible - most folks do the majority of their cruising in the Summer so that's when they need to fuel, yes the liveaboards may need fuel irrespective of the time of year.

Or, maybe read them thru a couple of times yourself before pressing 'post'.