What you need to know about working with medical gases in NSW. Includes information about mechanical services, compliance, and the rules you need to follow.
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Key information
- From 1 October 2022, you must be licensed to install or work on medical gas systems in NSW.
- From 1 March 2023, you will need a mechanical services and medical gas licence to do mechanical services work, including testing and commissioning of mechanical heating, cooling or ventilation systems.
- Medical gas technicians and fitters must complete a Certificate of Compliance for every medical gas job performed in NSW.
- You cannot do both medical gasfitting work and commission work on the same medical gas installation.
- Where there is a serious medical gas incident, the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service must be notified within 24 hours.
Medical gas work and mechanical services
Medical gas work involves the construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration, maintenance, testing or commissioning of a medical gas installation (see definitions below). This includes mechanical services and incidental design work.
Mechanical services and medical gas work comes with high risks. To do this work you must have the appropriate skills, qualifications and experience so that the work meets the required standards.
Mechanical services and medical gas work
Mechanical services and medical gas work is defined as:
a) The construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration, maintenance, testing or commissioning of a mechanical heating, cooling or ventilation system in a building, which is associated with the heating, cooling or ventilation of that building and includes:
- any valve, regulator, register, pipe, duct, flue, tank, heating or cooling pipe or surface, boiler, burner, solid fuel heater, coil or other item that is used in the system
- in the case of a cooling tower, any water pipe, valve, pump, automated dosing device or automated bleeding device or any other mechanical component that affects the cooling tower’s cooling water flow rate or wastewater disposal
- roof sheeting and roof flashing that is necessary for the purpose of any work described in this paragraph or paragraphs (b)–(d), and
b) medical gasfitting work, and
c) the installation, commissioning and any incidental design work that is associated with the installation and commissioning of:
- any part of a single head split system, or
- a ceiling cassette system, or
- an add-on condenser unit for a ducted system associated with the heating and cooling of a building, and
d) any design work incidental to, or associated with, work described in paragraphs (a) and (b).
It does not include:
- gasfitting work
- work on a cooling tower drift eliminator
- treatment of cooling or heating water
- cleaning of a cooling tower
- disassembly or reassembly of a flue terminal for the purposes of cleaning a solid fuel heater
- connection or disconnection of a system referred to in paragraphs (a)–(d) from a water supply other than disconnection of the system from a water supply at an isolating valve adjacent to a mechanical component of that system.
A person is not permitted to do both medical gasfitting work and commission work on the same medical gas installation.
Medical gasfitting work
Medical gasfitting is the construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration, maintenance, testing or commissioning of a medical gas installation and includes incidental design work.
Medical gas technician work
Medical gas technician work is the commissioning, testing, verification or certification of a medical gas installation.
Medical gases list
Medical gas is a substance used for medical purposes and prescribed by the regulations as a medical gas.
The list of medical gases includes:
- oxygen
- nitrous oxide
- helium
- nitrogen
- carbon dioxide
- medical air
- surgical tool gas
- common mixtures of the gases referred to above
- waste anaesthetic gas
- air at a negative pressure (commonly known as suctioning)
Licensing
You need to be licenced to do any medical gas work in NSW, regardless of the cost of the work or whether the work is residential, commercial or industrial.
From 1 October 2022, you must be licensed to carry out medical gasfitting work or medical gas technician work.
From 1 March 2023, you will need a mechanical services and medical gas licence to do mechanical services work, including testing and commissioning of mechanical heating, cooling or ventilation systems.
There are three licence categories available depending if you want to contract for another party, supervise work, do the work, or a combination of these tasks:
- Contractor licence
- Qualified supervisor certificate
- Tradesperson certificate
See Medical gas licensing for more information on qualification requirements and how to apply.
You must also hold a National Refrigerant Handling Licence (RHL) to do any work related to refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. To find out if you need an RHL, please visit the Australian Refrigeration Council website.
Air conditioning and refrigeration licence holders
If you currently hold an air-conditioning and refrigeration licence and are doing work that is listed under both mechanical services work or an air-conditioning and refrigeration work, you can continue doing that work under the licence you hold.
To do any mechanical services work that does not fall under air-conditioning and refrigeration work, an additional licence is required. The same applies for air-conditioning and refrigeration work that falls outside the scope of mechanical services work.
Laws to follow
Legislation
On 1 November 2020 the Gas Legislation Amendment (Medical Gas Systems) Bill 2020 came into force in New South Wales.
Medical gas work is regulated under the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2017 and the Home Building Act 1989.
Medical gas fitters and technicians must submit a Certificate of Compliance for all medical gas work under the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Regulation 2018.
Medical gas standards and notes
To see if your technical or safety matter is covered under the Australian Standards as referred to in the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Regulation 2018, contact Standards Australia or your local licensed medical gas fitter or technician.
Australian Standards are issued under licence from Standards Australia. To purchase a copy of any Standard, visit the Standards Australia website.
Compliance requirements
From 1 October 2021, medical gas technicians and fitters must complete a Certificate of Compliance for every medical gas job they perform in NSW. This includes any medical gas installation, remediation or upgrade.
A completed Certificate of Compliance must be submitted within seven days of completing any safety and compliance test on a medical gas installation.
Ensuring mechanical services and medical gas work is compliant
All mechanical services and medical gas work must meet the relevant Australian Standards. This includes AS 2896-2021 Medical gas systems - Installation and testing of non-flammable medical gas pipeline systems.
Apprentices, trainees, and anyone with a tradesperson certificate doing mechanical services and medical gas work, can only work under the supervision of a licensed supervisor. The supervisor is responsible that any work done by an unlicensed worker is compliant and safe.
MyCertificates Portal
The MyCertificates Portal allows licence holders to do the following related to Medical Gas Certificates of Compliance:
- register to use the portal
- create a Certificate of Compliance with a system generated identification number
- save a partially complete certificate and return to complete at a later time
- submit a completed certificate
- preview a copy of certificate
- once submitted, the system will email a copy of the certificate to both the licensee and the customer who commissioned the work to enable the licensee to locate previously lodged certificates
Tip: Save the MyCertificates link to your favourites for future quick access
Lodging a certificate
Use the MyCertificates Portal to lodge your Certificate of Compliance quickly and easily.
How to use the portal:
- Register for an account
- Once you have registered, you can login to MyCertificates
For help using the MyCertificates Portal, please refer to the Medical gas community portal guide.
Who should receive a copy of the Certificate of Compliance?
It’s the Medical Gas Technician’s responsibility to ensure the following receive a copy:
- the customer who commissioned the work
- Fair Trading NSW
Penalties
Substantial penalties apply, including on-the-spot fines of up to $1100, each time a Compliance Certificate isn't supplied.
Reporting serious incidents
Where there is a serious medical gas incident, the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service must be notified within 24 hours.
Report serious medical gas accidents by calling 13 10 50.
The following information will need to be provided:
- Name of person
- Contact details of person (email/phone numbers)
- Name of medical facility where incident occurred
- Address of medical facility where incident occurred
- Location at the medical facility
- Incident details
- Date
- Time
- Description of incident
Serious medical gas incidents include incidents:
- caused by the use of a medical gas, a gas installation or by work carried out on a medical gas installation, and
- as a consequence of which a person dies or suffers permanent disability, is hospitalised, receives treatment from a registered health practitioner or is unable to attend work for any period of time.