Business/Employer

Appliances that run on natural gas in businesses often include:

• heating appliances: boilers, hot air generators, air heaters, infrared heaters (dark and light) and heat pumps;
• cogeneration appliances (production of heat and electricity);
• appliances producing hot water;
• professional cooking appliances: hobs, deep-fryers, grills, woks, rotisseries, etc.;
• appliances for washing (washing machines) or for drying (dryers);
• appliances for thermal industrial processes.

You must have all these appliances inspected, to be certain they run properly and safely after the conversion.

The conversion to rich gas only affects natural gas. It does not affect appliances running on gas in bottles (propane or butane) or on gas used by vehicles (LPG, CNG).

Are you unsure if your business is located in a municipality that will convert to rich gas? You can check to see if your municipality is affected by entering your postcode in the search field at the bottom of this page. 

If you are affected, your distribution network operator and/or your supplier will notify you well in advance. Once you have been notified, and before the actual conversion, you will have to call on an ‘authorised technician’ to inspect, and possibly to adjust, all your gas appliances. This way you can be sure that the appliances will continue to run properly and safely on rich gas.

This inspection will be charged to you. Ask for this inspection in good time from your authorised technician, so that you can combine it with the next compulsory periodic inspection of your boiler.

In some cases, a technician from your distribution network operator will have to adapt the pressure regulator on your gas meter. This adaptation is free of charge. Your network operator will do this at his own expense. This adaptation is essential for safety reasons. You are therefore required to allow your distribution network operator access to your meter.

No technicians will visit Brussels and much of the Antwerp conurbation, because these areas don’t have pressure regulators. This means nothing needs to be adapted.

To know how to recognise a technician from your distribution network operator, check the operator’s website. 

Please note that industrial users provided with medium pressure by their gas supplier must have any low pressure equipment checked and, where necessary, have the pressure regulator adapted. This adaptation will be charged to them.

You pay per unit of energy (kWh) that you consume. The calculation on your bill (see FAQ) will look different, but if you use the same amount of energy you will pay the same as before.

If you don’t get your appliances inspected, this could pose a risk after the conversion. Indeed, your gas appliance may not run at optimum efficiency, for example because it produces more CO (carbon monoxide), it consumes more gas or it wears out faster. 

A gas appliance in poor working order will cost more, is bad for the environment and might be harmful to your health and that of your colleagues. Regarding safety, remember that in most cases the rooms containing a gas appliance must have sufficient ventilation and must comply with the various safety standards in this field. 

Some gas appliances are not compatible with rich gas.

Ask your technician for a visit report indicating which of your appliances have been inspected and any adaptations made. This will provide you with documentary evidence of the technician’s visit and any work carried out. 

Inspection of your gas appliances must be done by an authorised technician, which means someone qualified to do so. There are three types of authorised technician:

• a technician certified by your region to carry out the compulsory periodic inspection of boilers: a GI or GII technician; 
• a technician from your appliance’s manufacturer;
• a technician from the official distributor designated by the manufacturer of your appliance brand. 

You can consult the list of technicians who are certified by your region for the compulsory periodic inspection of boilers: simply enter your postcode below. 

If you ask for this inspection in good time, you can combine it with the next compulsory periodic inspection of your boiler.

This way, you won’t have to call your technician twice and pay his travel costs twice.

It is the responsibility of the owner of any gas appliance to check the appliance’s compatibility with rich gas and for any adaptation of the appliance. 

The landlord of a rented building must pay the costs for the inspection and any adaptation of the gas appliances that they own. 

The tenant must pay the costs of the inspection and any adaptation of the gas appliances that they own. Furthermore, the tenant must give the landlord’s authorized technician access to their building.

As a tenant, always check whether or not your rental contract includes a clause that makes you responsible for the costs of the inspection and adaptation of your landlord’s gas appliances.

As a tenant, don't forget to notify your landlord of the conversion, and of their obligation to carry out an inspection and to make any necessary adaptations to the gas appliances in their building. That’s because the tenant will be alerted about the date of the conversion to rich gas by the distribution network operator and/or the gas supplier. It is therefore your responsibility to alert your landlord.