This section outlines very briefly what you must think about for
the BSS examination if you use gas aboard your boat.
If your vessel has gas aboard, please remember to prepare the vessel before its examination
and ensure there is a supply of gas ready for the examiner to
undertake the checks.
The BSS Examination includes checks on any LPG system covering
aspects of the storage of gas cylinders, gas system and the
connections to gas appliances.
The complete set of checks can be read in Chapter 7 of the BSS Essential Guide.
How do we check your boat is free from gas leaks?
The BSS examination includes a test that checks that the gas
system is free from leaks i.e the gas tightness-test.
However, we would like to stress that the system should be
gas-tight (not leaking) all times, not just when the BSS
examination is due.
For boat owners the simplest way of having that assurance is to
install a bubble tester and use it routinely. The examiner can also
use this device to check the system is gas tight too, if it is
installed correctly.
Where a bubble tester isn't fitted, the BSS Examiner must use a
device called a manometer, this has to be connected to a gas test
point.
The test point is simply a threaded opening into the gas system.
It is sealed by a screw action nipple. To test the system, the
nipple is undone, the manometer is connected up, the test is
carried out, the manometer is then disconnected and the nipple is
tightened back down. It is tightened sufficiently to seal the
test point once more to prevent a gas leak, but not so tight as to
damage the seal and cause a gas leak.
Who can carry out BSS Examinations on your boat?
All BSS examiners are trained and assessed in the same way to
carry out checks of the gas system and to be competent undertake
gas-tightness tests with manometers or with bubble-testers. They
are quality assessed and have to undergo periodic retraining and
assessment.
However, the use of a boat, affects its status under UK gas
legistation, as follows:-
Privately owned boats used solely for leisure and
pleasure purposes
If your boat is used by you for private leisure and pleasure
use, all BSS Examiners can legally carry out a full boat safety
scheme examination including checking by manometer that the gas
system does not leak - the tightness-test.
Please read these other pages if you think your boat is in one
of the categories below.
Link to information about - Residential
boats, liveaboard craft and houseboats
Link to information about - Hire boats,
passenger vessels, commercial and business boats*
The BSS Examiner may ask you about your boat's
use:
The examiners who are not on the Gas Safe register are advised
as part of their initial dealings with owners to ask in advance of
turning up at the mooring, about the status of the craft.
To avoid falling foul of UK law and avoiding criminal
prosecution they need to find out whether the boat's use will mean
they should not carry out a tightness-test using a manometer.
They may ask the following questions, just for their own personal
record:
- Is the boat hired out in the course of a business?
- Is the boat used primarily by anyone for domestic or
residential purposes (In this matter, it makes no difference to if
the boat is owner-occupied or rented-out)?
- Are people invited on board the boat in the course of a
business, e.g. is it a café or shop?
Even if the answer to all the questions above is 'no', the
examiner is advised to make a brief record that he or she has asked
the questions and received the negative answers. This information
will not be shared with BSS Office or other parties unless there is
an investigation linked to gas testing by the examiner.
*Note on the BSS Examination for non-private boats
- If a vessel is a hire boat, third-party managed
share-owned boat, trip boat, rented residential boat, floating
business or some other form of commercial or public vessel, the
boat will be examined to the 2002 BSS Standards.
Further BSS information about the use of LPG on boats
The Safe Use of LPG - pdf leaflet 
.
Avoiding Fire Afloat - pdf leaflet
Carbon Monoxide Safety - CO web page
Portable gas appliances - news release
Refilling gas cylinders - BSS Briefing
