If you can smell gas
Get everyone outside, leave light switches and appliances alone, and turn the gas off at the meter or bottle only if it's safe. Ring the emergency number on your gas bill from outside, or 000 if anyone is hurt. Our gas leaks page has the next steps.
Gas in Hobart
A licensed distribution area
The Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator lists a Hobart plan among its gas distribution licence maps. Whether your street has mains gas or you use bottled LPG, the work on it needs a licensed gas fitter.
Two separate regulators
The Economic Regulator licenses gas network operators and retailers under the Gas Industry Act 2019. Gas safety is a separate job, regulated by the Director of Gas Safety under the Gas Safety Act 2019.
Lots of units
18.8% of occupied homes in the City of Hobart's area were flats or apartments at the 2021 Census. In a unit block, check who owns the gas line before any work is booked.
Contractor and practitioner, for gas too
Tasmania's Occupational Licensing Act 2005 applies to gas-fitting work as well as plumbing. Under it, a business must not carry on as a contractor unless it's licensed, and nobody may say someone is prepared to contract for prescribed work unless that person holds a contractor licence of the right occupation and class.
In practice, ask two questions. What is the business's contractor licence number for gas fitting? And which licence does the person coming to your home hold? Then check both on the state's licence register. Our licence guide shows what to look for.
Gas hot water in Hobart
Tasmania has no rule like Victoria's 2027 end-of-life rule that we could find, so replacing gas hot water with gas is still a choice here. Whatever goes in, Tasmania requires a temperature control device on a replacement heater, except when swapping one unit in a bank of heaters.
If you're weighing a switch to a heat pump, STCs can lower the price of eligible models. See Hobart hot water for the details.
Gas jobs a Hobart gas fitter does
- Connecting or moving a gas cooktop or oven.
- Installing a bayonet for a portable heater or barbecue.
- A gas safety check of pipes and appliances.
- Converting an appliance between natural gas and LPG.
- Disconnecting gas when you go all electric.
Ask before the gas fitter starts
- What's your contractor licence number, and does it cover gas fitting?
- Does this appliance suit natural gas, LPG, or does it need converting?
- Will you test the whole line for leaks after connecting it?
- For gas hot water: is the temperature control device in the quote?
What we would do
Treat gas like electricity: nothing on it is a weekend job. Before booking, ask for the contractor licence number and the name of the person who'll do the work, because Tasmanian law cares about both. If you're replacing gas hot water, get one quote for gas and one for a heat pump, each with the temperature control device included, and compare the totals.