Commercial Gas Services in Newcastle upon Tyne

Commercial Gas Engineers on Tyneside

Commercial Gas Certificate provides gas services to businesses, landlords and contractors. We work on commercial and industrial systems only, and our engineers are Gas Safe registered.

On Tyneside, that covers a wide range of premises. In Newcastle there are Georgian and Victorian buildings in the city centre, modern laboratories and offices, two large hospitals, and engineering works along the river.

What Services Do We Provide in Newcastle?

Pipework installation and repair

New supplies, alterations and leak repairs. See commercial gas installation.

Gas testing and purging

Strength and tightness testing to IGEM/UP/1 and IGEM/UP/1A, followed by a controlled purge. See gas testing and purging.

Commissioning and decommissioning

Bringing new plant into service with recorded settings, and making redundant supplies safe.

Gas safety certificates

Annual inspections for employers and landlords. See commercial gas certificates.

Catering services

Kitchen pipework, interlocks and catering inspections. See commercial catering.

Grainger Town, the Quayside and Listed Buildings

Grainger Town, in the centre of Newcastle, has one of the highest concentrations of listed buildings in the country. Many now hold restaurants, bars and hotels, as do the old warehouses along the Quayside and the workshops of the Ouseburn.

Fitting a commercial kitchen into a building of that age takes care. Pipe routes have to avoid historic fabric. Flues and meter positions may need listed building consent from the council. Ventilation can be difficult to achieve in basements and vaults.

We survey first, agree the route, then install, test and purge. The extraction interlock required by BS 6173 is fitted and proved before handover.

Riverside Industry and the Energy Supply Chain

The Tyne still works for a living. Offshore energy, subsea engineering and marine fabrication firms operate from Walker, Wallsend and the Port of Tyne. Newburn Riverside and Team Valley in Gateshead hold manufacturing, food production and distribution.

Work here includes process pipework, workshop and warehouse heating, and buried supplies between buildings. Large mains are purged with nitrogen. See commercial heating systems and underground gas pipework.

Fabrication shops often use gas for preheating, cutting and space heating, with long overhead runs that need regular inspection for damage and corrosion.

How Are Commercial Gas Systems Tested and Purged?

Testing comes first. The pipework is isolated and pressurised. After a settling period, the pressure is monitored for a set time. If it holds within the permitted limit, the pipework is sound. New pipework has a strength test before this, at a higher pressure.

Purging follows. Air is displaced from the pipework and vented outdoors until a reading at the vent point shows gas only. On larger systems, nitrogen is used between the air and the gas so the two never mix. Appliances are then lit and checked.

You receive a signed record of both the test and the purge.

Hospitals, Universities and Research Buildings

The Royal Victoria Infirmary, the Freeman Hospital, two universities and the laboratories at the Helix site all depend on central plant. Boiler houses, steam systems, laboratory gas and large kitchens have to stay in service while work goes on.

We phase the work, agree shutdowns in advance and follow the permit procedures of the estates department.

You can read more about our full range of commercial gas services, including commercial catering and commercial heating systems, or see the other areas we cover, such as Leeds and Kingston upon Hull. Commercial Gas Certificate works nationwide.

Commissioning Heating Plant Before Winter

Winters in Newcastle are cold enough that heating cannot be left to chance, and the weeks before winter are the busiest time of year for boiler replacements. A new boiler is not ready for use until it has been commissioned.

We purge the supply, check working pressure with all plant running, set up the burners, take combustion readings and prove the safety controls. The readings go on a commissioning record for the building file. Booking this early avoids a cold start to the season.

What Records Do Landlords and Insurers Expect?

Most landlords and insurers in Newcastle ask for a current gas safety record, showing that appliances and pipework have been inspected in the last 12 months. After alterations they may also ask for the tightness test certificate and purge record.

The legal duty sits in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, which require employers and those in control of premises to keep gas installations safe. We issue all records digitally.

Removing Redundant Gas Pipework

When a kitchen closes, a boiler house is replaced or a unit is stripped out, the old pipework should be decommissioned. We isolate it, purge the gas to a safe point outdoors, then cap and label it. The pipework that stays live is tightness tested.

Two mistakes are common. One is pipework that has been turned off at a valve but never purged or capped. The other is a capped pipe with no label, so nobody knows whether it is live. A proper decommissioning record avoids both.

Local Bodies You May Need to Deal With

Northern Gas Networks runs the gas distribution network across the North East and owns the pipework up to the emergency control valve. New supplies, upgrades and disconnections are arranged with the network or through your gas supplier.

Newcastle City Council is the highway authority north of the river, and Gateshead Council to the south. Either will need to issue a permit for excavation in a public road. The two councils also run a Clean Air Zone covering the city centre and the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges. It charges older vans, lorries, buses and taxis, not private cars.

From the Tyne to Northumberland and Durham

We cover Newcastle and the wider NE postcode area, including Gosforth, Jesmond, Byker, Benton, Killingworth, Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Gateshead, Blaydon, Cramlington, Blyth, Morpeth and Hexham.

We also work in Sunderland, Washington, Durham and the rest of the UK.

Is There an Emergency Service?

Yes. If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 first. Our emergency gas repairs team then covers Newcastle and Tyneside 24/7 for the repair, the retest and the purge.