GCS Scheme

NICEIC Certification is accredited to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 (conformity assessment) requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems and also UKAS approved to operate the E & U Skills Group Competence Scheme (GCS).
 

What is the GCS Scheme?		The GCS is one of a number of routes that a Gas operative can prove their Competence, along with ACS and the aligned NVQ/SVQ, all of these routes have to cover the same Matters of Gas Safety for the scope of qualification.
Who owns the scheme?		E & U Skills.
How does the scheme work?		Membership to the scheme is required.  E&U Skills membership is chargeable to the business dependent upon the number of operatives on the scheme, this charge is based upon an initial charge of £50 per Engineer per annum, but charges are operated on a sliding The business will have to engage the services of a GCS certification body, accredited to EN 17021 to audit and certificate the business, plus download the individual engineer GCS qualifications to the Gas Safe Register (GSR).   GCS places the responsibility of “Gas Safety” on the employer, it’s the “Business” who will be deeming their engineer competent for their scope of membership and then issuing a relevant certificate of competence.   It’s the business's responsibility to develop an audit/assessment process, procedures and documentation that will cover the Scope of the Business’s GCS registration (MoGS, both practical and knowledge & understanding). The audit/assessment process will be based upon the scope of work the business undertakes within the GCS and the audit process may cover the complete Gas operation of the business or be limited to specific areas and scope (those only covered within the business GCS membership). Any criteria that it is not possible to cover on the district can be covered within a Third Party or the business’s Training & Assessment Centre.   The business GCS Certification will be for three years. Surveillance visits will normally be annually for which the duration will be based upon the size and complexity of the business’s GCS Quality System and the supporting processes and procedures. The certification bodies audit regime will have to be robust enough to satisfy the requirements of EN 17021 and the GCS Scheme Documents. UKAS carry out an annual audit of the certification body to ensure both compliance with the standard and scheme are maintained.
Download the NICEIC GCS Scheme Literature Download GCS Scheme Requirements