I can consider the regs and the COP's and the BS's and choose not to comply as long as I can fully justify it and that would usually only mean I'd be exceeding their requirements in a different way, I could also take a disparity in those documents and use it to justify non compliance with one or the other.
For example, nowhere in the regs does it state that it's necessary for me to be gassafe registered to do gas work and quite possibly if I were a member of a professional trade association and kept completely up to date on the regs then I'd be beyond reproach and nobody would bother me (not advocating that, just a point!). People that get prosecuted are a danger to the public with no or little regard for the regulations that's not where i am!
I'm also a staunch supporter of gassafe 😳 but if you actually read through the regs there's allot of grey and sometimes you have to get your balls out!
They're also good for hiding behind and generating work for yourself 😱
Balance - that's the key!