Every fixed LPG installation in South Africa needs a Certificate of Conformity (gas CoC) issued by an installer registered with SAQCC Gas, and under the current standard, SANS 10087-1:2024, installations are subject to inspection at intervals not exceeding 5 years. Only a registered Authorised Person may install, modify, maintain or remove a fixed gas system: anyone else doing that work is committing an offence under the OHS Act.
The legal framework
Three layers govern LPG work:
- SANS 10087, the LPG handling code, most recently updated as SANS 10087-1:2024 (Edition 7, superseding the 2013 edition).
- The Pressure Equipment Regulations (PER) under the OHS Act. Regulation 17.1 restricts installation, modification and repair of gas systems to registered persons.
- SAQCC Gas, the South African Qualification and Certification Committee for Gas, which registers installers and issues Certificates of Conformity digitally.
When a CoC is required
A Certificate of Conformity must be issued for every permanent (fixed) gas installation:
- On completion of a new installation.
- After any modification, alteration or maintenance of an existing installation.
- On change of ownership of a property with an existing installation.
Under SANS 10087-1:2024 the certificate is subject to a 5-year inspection cycle: inspections at intervals not exceeding 5 years. Some insurers require renewal more frequently, so check the policy wording. Movable appliances, such as portable heaters and braais on wheels, are not permanent installations and do not need a CoC.
The clearance distances that fail inspections
SANS 10087-1:2024 sets the cylinder positioning rules that catch most DIY and handyman installations:
- Cylinder valve at least 1 m from any door, window or airbrick opening below valve level.
- At least 2 m from any drain, pit, manhole or forced-draught inlet.
- At least 3 m from combustible materials such as weeds, dry grass and paper.
- At least 3 m from an electrical source of ignition (plug points, DB boards, pool pumps, motors), reducible to 1.5 m if the electrical source is above the cylinder valve.
- For cylinders in cages or enclosures, the cylinder top must be at least 300 mm below adjacent window sills.
- Maximum 100 kg of LPG stored per erf without fire department approval and drawings.
If you build outdoor kitchens, braai rooms or granny flats, these distances belong in your design checklist before the slab is cast, not after the gas installer arrives and shakes their head.
Worked example: the new kitchen hob
A homeowner has a built-in gas hob and oven installed. The SAQCC Gas-registered installer connects a new external cylinder, runs properly sleeved copper piping through the kitchen wall, and on completion issues a digital SAQCC Certificate of Conformity. The homeowner shows the CoC to their insurer and keeps it on file. At sale, the certificate must be current, renewed if necessary, before transfer.
Common mistakes
- An unregistered person connecting the gas. It is an offence, and it voids the insurance position too.
- No new CoC after maintenance or modification. The trigger is any work on the fixed installation, not just new installs.
- Cylinders against the kitchen window. The 1 m, 2 m and 3 m clearance rules are the most common failures.
- More than 100 kg of LPG on the property without fire department approval.
- Assuming the braai rule covers everything movable. A plumbed-in patio fireplace is a fixed installation; the trolley braai is not.
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