Is CORGI Still Valid? CORGI vs Gas Safe Registered Engineers

No. CORGI registration stopped being valid for gas work on 1 April 2009, when the Gas Safe Register replaced it as the official list of engineers who are legally allowed to work on gas in Great Britain. Northern Ireland followed a year later. An engineer who tells you today that they are "CORGI registered" is either using an old habit of speech or relying on a registration that no longer counts for anything. What matters now is a current Gas Safe ID card that covers the work you are booking.

What Was CORGI?

CORGI ran the register of gas installers before 2009. If you had a boiler fitted or serviced before then, the engineer would have been CORGI registered, and the paperwork will carry the CORGI name and logo.

For decades CORGI was the name people associated with safe gas work, which is why the word still turns up in conversation, in older adverts and in search terms like "CORGI gas engineer". The register was replaced after a government review, and the job passed to the Gas Safe Register, which is run on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive. The legal duty stayed the same: anyone who works on gas fittings, appliances or flues for pay must be on the official register. Only the name of the register changed, and with it the ID cards engineers carry.

Is It Legal to Use a CORGI Engineer Today?

Only if that engineer is also on the Gas Safe Register. CORGI membership on its own gives no legal right to install, service or repair a gas appliance.

Many engineers who were CORGI registered moved across to the Gas Safe Register when it started, so a long-serving engineer may well have held both. The problem is someone who still presents CORGI as their qualification. That can mean they never moved across, or that their registration has lapsed since. Either way, you should not let them start work on a boiler, cooker, fire or gas pipe until you have seen a valid Gas Safe ID card. Our guide on how to check an engineer is Gas Safe registered shows what the card should say and how to confirm the licence number online.

Why the CORGI Name Still Appears

The CORGI name survived as a brand after it stopped being the register, so you will still see it on things that have nothing to do with an engineer's legal status.

It has appeared on home cover and boiler plan products, and on technical publications and forms used by engineers. None of these are a registration. A CORGI-branded cover plan is an insurance-style product, the same kind of thing sold by energy suppliers and insurers, and it tells you nothing about whether the person who turns up is qualified. If you are comparing cover or plans, judge them on what they include and exclude, not on the name. Our page on service plans, warranties and boiler cover sets out how those products differ.

The name also lives on in people's heads. Plenty of homeowners, and some older tradespeople, still say "CORGI" when they mean "a registered gas engineer". That on its own is not a warning sign. The warning sign is when the word is offered in place of a Gas Safe card.

What an Old CORGI Sticker or Certificate on Your Boiler Means

A CORGI sticker, logbook entry or certificate simply tells you the work was done before April 2009. It does not mean the boiler is unsafe, and it does not mean anything needs redoing.

It does tell you two useful things. First, the boiler, or at least that piece of work on it, is well over fifteen years old, so it is worth making sure the annual service is actually happening and that the service record since then is complete. Second, if the most recent paperwork you can find carries a CORGI logo, the boiler may have gone years without a documented service. In that case, book a service rather than assuming all is well, and tell the engineer there is no recent record so they expect a more thorough clean. Our guide on how to read your boiler service record explains what a current record should show.

If you are a landlord or a tenant and the only gas safety paperwork carries a CORGI logo, it is long out of date. A landlord gas safety record has to be renewed every twelve months, so any valid one will have been issued under the Gas Safe scheme. Our landlord gas safety certificate page explains what the current inspection covers.

How to Check an Engineer Before a Service

Ask to see the Gas Safe ID card when the engineer arrives, check the photo and the expiry date, and read the back of the card to confirm they are qualified for the appliance you have.

• The photo and name should match the person at the door.
• The dates should show the card is current.
• The scope of work on the back lists the appliance types they are qualified for, such as domestic boilers, cookers or gas fires. An engineer can be registered and still not be qualified for your particular appliance.
• The licence number can be checked on the Gas Safe Register website before the visit if you want extra reassurance.

A genuine engineer expects to be asked and will not be offended. If someone cannot show a card, or offers an old CORGI card instead, do not let the work go ahead. You can report illegal gas work to the Gas Safe Register.

When the CORGI Question Matters Most

It matters most when you are hiring someone you found informally, such as through a neighbour, a leaflet or a marketplace listing, and when the job involves opening up the boiler or disconnecting gas.

A servicing visit involves removing the sealed case of the boiler, testing gas pressure and checking the flue, so it is gas work in the legal sense and must be done by a registered engineer. The same applies to fitting a cooker, moving a gas pipe or connecting a gas fire. Bleeding radiators, topping up the pressure on a combi and reading the display are not gas work, but anything behind the boiler casing is. If you are unsure whether a job counts, assume it does.

When you book a service with us, the engineer who arrives will carry a current Gas Safe ID card, and you are welcome to check it before any work starts.