Gassafe Standards updates

[RoryD]

Perhaps it's me but it seems that if I want to download or get access to standards updates, I have to pay £75 / annum for the privelidge. Not content to milk £400 and odd quid for my initial card (was with a large company and was issued their card), I found that I have to pay £100 quid every year for a new card. Fair enough to say welcome to the big bad world, but it's ludicrous. Either pay up or you ain't gonna know until an inspector turns up. It seems Capita have it made, it's a big vacuum sucking in money and don't even publish any reference books that I'm aware of. If anyone can direct me otherwise I'd be grateful.

 

[kirkgas]

Some libraries have the BS docs to view but not print or download, I have access to them all via work, but as they are copyright I don't copy them for anyone, don't mind doing the odd page for reference or back up

 

[tamz]

Capita/Gas safe have nothing to do with British Standards. They came to an agreement with BSI to offer the subscription service at a vastly reduced cost to installers.
Normally you would have had to buy them at 100 quid a pop and that would have cost you 4 -5 grand for the ones you need.
You are not forced to take the subscription if you don't want to. Most of the important relevant information is summarised in viper/bpec/corgi etc books.

 

[buckley plumb]

why should we pay for the rules

 

[Ray Stafford]

why should we pay for the rules

You shouldn't have to.

I have always thought it was criminal that British Standards weren't freely available. Its like having to pay to find out how long a metre is, or how much a kilo weighs.

 

[Reg Man]

It has never been fair, that the everyday tradesman is regulated and told to do a job to current standards and take the consequences from the regulator if not. Yet the National standards are secret unless you dip very deep into your pockets to buy them. Thankfully we have other publications which interpret the BS's, which don't break the bank. BSI have lost a trick here in standard business opportunities. If they made the standards available at a realistic price, everyone would buy them, and there would be no demand for the watered down publications and everyone would be singing from the same book.