Before escalating anywhere, Gas Safe Register’s own guidance is clear that the first step with a concern about an engineer’s work is contacting the business directly and asking them to correct it.

Start with the business itself

Gas Safe Register’s guidance sets out that in the first instance, you should contact the business concerned directly and ask them to correct the problem. This isn’t just a formality — a reasonable proportion of installation issues are genuinely resolvable this way, and both Gas Safe Register and any subsequent body you approach will generally expect to see that you’ve tried this route first before escalating.

Gas Safe Register: safety and competence of the gas work itself

If contacting the business directly doesn’t resolve things, Gas Safe Register says it’s happy to investigate concerns about work carried out by a registered engineer, and can be reached through an online form, by email, or by phone. Gas Safe Register’s guidance confirms a regional investigations officer will typically aim to visit the property and inspect the gas work within 10 working days of a report, spending two to three hours on site, with a full written report generally following within 10 working days of that visit. Crucially, Gas Safe Register’s own guidance is explicit that it cannot help with non-gas issues such as contractual or financial disputes, and cannot arbitrate disputes generally — its role is specifically the safety and competence of the gas work itself.

HSE: enforcement, and landlord non-compliance specifically

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) sits alongside Gas Safe Register with a more enforcement-focused role. HSE’s own guidance specifically addresses tenants who don’t have a current landlord gas safety record, directing them to report this to HSE using form LGSR1, and HSE guidance confirms its inspectors will follow up on repeated attempts by a landlord to avoid necessary safety checks. HSE also runs a free Gas Safety Advice Line for general guidance on gas safety questions, distinct from Gas Safe Register’s engineer-specific investigation process.

Trading Standards: for contractual and consumer issues, not gas safety itself

Because Gas Safe Register explicitly can’t help with contractual or financial disputes, that category of complaint — a dispute over price, a contract not honoured, misleading claims made before you agreed to the work, or a business simply not completing agreed work — is generally a matter for Trading Standards or, for a consumer contract dispute more broadly, the Citizens Advice consumer service as a first point of contact, which can direct a formal complaint through to Trading Standards where appropriate.

Putting it together: which body actually fits your specific problem

If the concern is genuinely about whether the gas work itself was done safely and competently, Gas Safe Register is the right first stop after the business itself. If it’s about a landlord failing to provide a legally required gas safety check, HSE has a specific reporting route for that. If it’s about money, contract terms, or a business’s general conduct rather than the safety of the gas work specifically, Trading Standards or the Citizens Advice consumer service is the appropriate route — sending a purely contractual complaint to Gas Safe Register, for example, will simply be redirected rather than investigated on the safety merits.

FAQs

Can I report an installer to more than one body at once?

Yes — the three bodies covered here handle different aspects of a complaint, so where an issue genuinely spans both gas safety and a contractual dispute, reporting the relevant parts to both Gas Safe Register and Trading Standards (or the Citizens Advice consumer service) isn’t unusual.

What if the installer isn’t Gas Safe registered at all?

This is itself a serious safety and legal issue — working on gas appliances without being Gas Safe registered is illegal, and Gas Safe Register specifically investigates and can take action against unregistered individuals carrying out gas work.

Does making a complaint get my money back?

Not directly — Gas Safe Register and HSE are focused on safety and regulatory compliance rather than financial remedies, so recovering money generally goes through Trading Standards guidance, a Section 75 credit card claim where applicable, or, as a last resort, the small claims court.

Sources

This guide draws on the following primary sources, current as of 18 September 2026:

• Gas Safe Register: Concerns and reporting illegal gas work
• HSE: Domestic gas – frequently asked questions

Related guides

Best Boiler Deals is an independent guide. We may earn a fee from some links; this never affects what we write. This article is general information, not regulated advice on any specific installation — always confirm the details with a Gas Safe registered engineer.