Oil heating in Wales: OFTEC, not Gas Safe

Many rural Welsh homes are off the gas grid. The boiler burns oil, not mains gas. The person who installs or services it should be on a competent-person scheme for oil. Gas Safe is the wrong register for that work.

Two fuels, two rules

GOV.WALES says an oil-fired boiler should be installed by someone registered with a competent-person scheme. That notification is how the job meets building regulations. Gas Safe covers gas appliances — a boiler, a fire, a cooker, pipework on gas. A Gas Safe card does not, by itself, qualify someone to work on an oil tank and an oil burner.

Ask which scheme they are on before they travel. OFTEC is the scheme most householders will hear named for oil. The legal test is the competent-person register for oil, not the logo on a van.

There is no 2026 ban to quote

You can still service an oil boiler. You can still replace one. A new install still needs building regulations approval, usually through the registered installer. Do not treat a rumour of a 2026 oil-boiler ban as a reason to rip out a working system, or to hire the first person who says the government has banned it.

There is also no official Welsh call-out price for oil work. Ask what the visit includes, whether parts are extra, and whether they leave a certificate. See what a plumber or boiler call-out should cost for how to read a visit fee — that page is about scope, not a tariff for oil.

If you smell gas

That is the gas network, not the oil tank. Open windows. Do not use switches. Call 0800 111 999. An oil leak is a different problem: keep clear, do not smoke, and use the engineer or the supplier you were given for the tank.

What to keep

Keep the commissioning record and the service notes. If you let the house, ask your agent what heating certificate the tenancy needs. This page is not a substitute for the scheme’s own check on the engineer’s categories.

What to ask before they travel

Ask which appliances they are registered for, not only the company name. Oil boiler work and oil tank work are not the same category on every card. Ask whether the visit is a service, a repair, or a replacement, and what happens if they condemn the burner on the day.

Ask where the tank sits, whether they need access for a delivery lorry, and who you call if you smell oil after they leave. A new boiler still needs the building regulations route. If they are not on the competent-person scheme, the job does not become legal because the house is rural or because the old boiler was already there.

Do not let a Gas Safe engineer “have a look” at the oil side on the strength of the gas card. Book the oil scheme, then keep the certificate with the house papers.