RIS for open flued gas heaters

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is undertaking a review and regulatory impact statement (RIS) process to consider options to address risks from open flued gas space heaters.

Open flued gas space heaters pose a risk of releasing unhealthy and sometimes lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide into buildings.  Malfunctioning, poorly or infrequently serviced open flued gas space heaters in residential settings have resulted in the deaths of three Victorians since 2010.

In the 2018 coronial inquest into the death of Mrs Sonia Sofianopoulos, the coroner found that Sofianopoulos died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by “a confluence of events that proved to be fatal”, and made eight recommendations. One of the key recommendation was that a plan and strategy be implemented to phase out all open flued gas space heaters in Victoria.

The Victorian Government committed to conduct a review into open flued gas space heaters, with options such as a phase-out to be assessed through a regulatory impact statement (RIS) process led by DELWP.

The regulatory impact statement process is now underway. The discussion paper outlines potential phase-out options for open flued gas space heaters, and complementary measures that could be implemented in addition to a chosen core option to reduce the risk posed by existing installations.

Industry feedback is being sought to help identify the best approach. Submissions are open until December 18, 2019, and the regulatory impact statement will be released in mid-2020.

Please click here for more information and to read the discussion paper.