The Director of Safety Energy WA has issued a second variation notice relating to the introduction of new gas installation standards. This variation means the requirement to have 650 mm of rangehood clearance does not apply to installations in connection with a building permit obtained before March 30 2023.
On 30 September 2022, Standards Australia published a new version of AS/NZS 5601.1 Gas Installations part 1: General installations. The six-month transition period ended on 29 March 2023, so full compliance is now required except for installations covered by variation notices.
The first variation notice related to multilayer pipes and we covered it in this news item.
The second variation notice was published on 31 March 2023 and applies to installations in connection with a building permit obtained before 30 March 2023. It replaces item (a)(i) of clause 6.10.11 of AS/NZS 5601.1 and allows the overhead clearance above the appliance to be 600 mm for a rangehood and 750 mm for an exhaust fan, unless the manufacturer’s installation instructions require a greater distance.
The exact wording is as follows.
"Where a consumer's gas installation is installed in a building in connection with building work for which—
(a) a building permit was granted on or before 30 March 2023; and
(b) the building permit remains in effect after 30 March 2023,
the following requirement shall apply in place of item (a)(i) of clause 6.10.1.1 of AS/NZS 5601.1—
The rangehoods and exhaust fans shall be installed in accordance with the rangehood, exhaust fan and appliance manufacturer's instructions. Where a difference occurs, the greater clearance shall apply. In any event, or where no dimension is specified in the appliance manufacturer's instructions, the clearance between the supporting surface for the cooking vessels of the gas cooking appliance and a rangehood or exhaust fan (overhead clearance) shall be not less than 600 mm for a rangehood, and not less than 750 mm for an exhaust fan.
For this variation to apply in respect of a given gas installation, the gasfitter obliged to submit a notice of completion for installing the gas installation must have sighted the applicable building permit and included a note in their notice of completion setting out when the building permit was granted."
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