Smell gas now?
Get everyone outside, leave switches and flames alone, and once you're clear, ring the gas emergency number printed on your gas bill. Book routine work only once it's safe.
Gas in Perth
ATCO owns the pipes
The Economic Regulation Authority says ATCO Gas Australia owns the Mid-West and South-West Gas Distribution Systems, which serve the Perth greater metropolitan area, Mandurah included.
A yellow card with a GF number
A WA gas fitter's licence is a yellow card about the size of a credit card. It lists the work they're authorised to do, a licence number starting with GF, and the expiry date.
Paperwork within 48 hours
For any gasfitting other than servicing, the fitter must give you a copy of the Notice of Completion, and send one to the gas supplier, within 48 hours of finishing.
A badge in the meter box
Fitters attach a compliance badge to the installation, in the gas meter box or beside an LPG cylinder's regulator. Natural gas jobs lodged with an electronic Notice of Completion are the exception.
What WA asks of a gas fitter, and of you
Building and Energy says unlicensed gasfitting is prohibited because of the risk to public safety, and warns that insurance claims may be refused where unauthorised gasfitting work has been done. The WA Online Licence Search covers gas fitting as well as plumbing, so you can check a name before booking.
Keep the Notice of Completion with your house papers: Building and Energy calls it your guarantee that the work is safe and complies. If it hasn't arrived within 48 hours, ask the fitter, and if it still doesn't come, tell the gas supplier or Building and Energy.
The gas supplier may inspect the installation afterwards, and you're obliged to let it. If anything isn't compliant, the gas fitter has to put it right.
Perth jobs that need a gas fitter
- Installing, moving or replacing a gas cooktop.
- Adding a gas bayonet for a heater or barbecue.
- Repairing or replacing a gas hot water system's gas side.
- Capping or disconnecting gas when you go electric.
- A gas safety check on older appliances.
- Converting an appliance between natural gas and LPG.
Staying on gas, or leaving it
We haven't found a WA rule that makes Perth homes replace gas appliances, like Victoria's rule for gas hot water at the end of its life. Whether you stay or go is your call.
If you do go electric, the gas side still needs a licensed fitter to cap or disconnect it, and that's gasfitting work with its own Notice of Completion. Our Perth heat pump page covers the water side.
Questions to ask a Perth gas fitter
- Can I see your gasfitting licence card before you start?
- Does this job need a Notice of Completion, and when will I get my copy?
- Will you fit a compliance badge, or lodge it electronically?
- Might the gas supplier want to inspect the work?
What we would do
Ask to see the licence card at the door and check that the work it lists matches your job. Look the GF number up on the WA Online Licence Search if anything feels off. Before the fitter leaves, confirm when the Notice of Completion will reach you, then file it with your insurance papers. We'll match you with a licensed gas fitter who does your kind of gas work, and only the fitter who takes the job gets your contact details.