This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee AG-006, Gas Installations, to supersede AS/NZS 5601.1:2013.

An exemption to SG-009, Preparation of Standards for Legislative Adoption, Clause 10 Reference to Approval Procedures or Bodies (Attachment 1) for AS/NZS 5601.1 Gas Installations, Part 1: General installations, and the retention of regulatory requirements relating to specific jurisdictions has been approved as a one-off for this publication by the Standards Development Accreditation Board (SDAC) on 6 August 2020.

The objective of this Standard is to provide essential requirements and deemed-to-conform solutions, and to promote uniform standards of gas installation.

This Standard is not to be regarded as a design specification or an instruction manual for untrained persons.

This Standard has no legal standing in its own right, but may acquire legal standing in either of the following circumstances:

(a) Where adopted by a government or other authority having jurisdiction over relevant installations.
(b) Where adopted as part of an installation specification.

Regulatory bodies (Technical Regulators) may adopt this Standard. The Standard lists some variation of requirements among the regulatory jurisdictions in Appendix M.

New Zealand instituted legislative changes in 1992 which removed the responsibility for inspection and certification of gas installations from the gas suppliers and instituted a regime of gas certification by a person authorized under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 2006.

Where the Standard has acquired legal standing, its requirements in Australia are mandatory (variations/exceptions being indicated as stated above).

For New Zealand, it is intended that only the performance requirements (Section 2) will be mandatory.

Matters of an advisory or explanatory nature are indicated in the following manners:

(i) The word “NOTE(S)” followed by a statement(s).
(ii) By inclusion in an informative appendix.
(iii) By inclusion in examples or caution statements.

Terms or words that are indicated by italics in the body of the text are defined terms or words. This indication of italics does not apply to the text in the Preface, headings or figures. Section 1 contains the definitions of such terms or words as they apply to the Standard.

This Standard includes a statement that its requirements do not apply retrospectively. Section 2 of this Standard details the various aspects of a gas installation that contribute to its safety, stating essential safety requirements and performance criteria for compliance with legislative requirements for safety of gas installations. Section 3 to 6 provide additional deemed to satisfy solutions for conformance to the performance criteria.

The means of conformance in Sections 3 to 6 are not the only means of conformance to the performance criteria in Section 2.

Major changes from AS/NZS 5601.1:2013 include the following:

(A) New definition for an “ignition source”.
(B) Section 2 has been separated into “Essential safety requirements” and “Performance based design requirements”.
(C) Brazing prohibited within 1 m of a joint with non-metallic components.
(D) New drawings for consumer piping located in cavities.
(E) Prohibition on the installation of multilayer pipe above-ground external to buildings.
(F) Provision of emergency isolation for multilayer pipe, including a new definition for a fire safety system.
(G) Increased clearance requirement between domestic cooking appliances and rangehoods to align with IEC 60335-2-31, Household and similar electrical appliances — Safety, Part 2-31: Particular requirements for rangehoods and other cooking fume extractors.
(H) Prohibition on the use of semi-rigid connectors in the installation of commercial catering equipment.
(I) New requirements for the protection of combustible surfaces adjacent to commercial catering equipment.
(J) New pipe sizing graphs and tables based upon the Churchill friction factor equation.
(K) Effect of altitude on gas supply pressure for high rise building installations.
(L) Revised requirements for the location of flue terminals under a covered area, in a recess, or on a balcony.
(M) New requirement for the isolation of installations in educational institutions.
(N) New requirements for freestanding commercial catering equipment with under-equipment connection.
(O) New requirements for the connection of freestanding commercial catering equipment using a hose assembly.

Statements expressed in normative terms in footnotes to tables and figures are deemed to be requirements of this Standard. Notes to the text contain information and guidance. They are not an integral part of the Standard.

Notes to tables are for information and guidance only.

The terms “normative” and “informative” are used in Standards to define the application of the appendices to which they apply. A “normative” appendix is an integral part of a Standard, whereas an “informative” appendix is only for information and guidance.