Industrial safety requirements for gas service lines, including those to residential buildings

The State Industrial Safety Authority (Gos­promnadzor) exercises state supervision over the organization of work related to hazardous production facilities (hereinafter - HPF) and/or potentially hazardous facilities (hereinafter - PHF) in the course of industrial safety activities.

According to clause 16 of Annex 2 to the Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 5, 2016 No. 354-3 "On Industrial Safety" (hereinafter - the Law), gas distribution system and gas consumption facilities are classified as PHF.

In accordance with clause 4 of the Rules for ensuring industrial safety in the field of gas supply, approved by the Resolution of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus of December 5, 2022 No. 66 (hereinafter - the Rules), gas distribution system facilities are a production complex that is part of the gas supply system and consists of organizationally and economically interconnected facilities intended for supplying gases to gas consumption facilities from a gas distribution station or liquefied petroleum gas (hereinafter - LPG) storage facilities to the shut-off device on the inlet gas pipeline.

Based on the conceptual framework of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 4, 2003 No. 176-3 "On Gas Supply", the Rules, as well as SN 4.03.01-2019 "Gas Distribution and Gas Consumption", inlet gas pipelines (including those to residential buildings) are classified as external gas pipelines of gas distribution system facilities from the point of connection to the distribution gas pipeline to the shut-off device inclusive when entering the building.

In accordance with the Regulation on the Procedure for Registration of Potentially Hazardous Objects, approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of August 5, 2016 No. 613 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation), potentially hazardous objects are subject to registration if they are classified in accordance with paragraph 16 of Annex 2 to the Law as objects of the gas distribution system and gas consumption, which contain or may contain natural gas with an overpressure of up to 1.2 MPa or LPG with an overpressure of up to 1.6 MPa (external gas pipelines of cities and settlements, including inter-settlement ones, gas pipelines and gas equipment of industrial, agricultural and other organizations from the outlet shut-off device of the gas distribution station or other gas source to the shut-off device inclusive on the gas pipeline inlet to the gas consumption object, excluding the housing stock).

According to the Regulation, for the registration of potentially hazardous objects, the owner of the potentially hazardous object applies to the State Industrial Supervision Authority – a subject of industrial safety, including a state body, which operates the potentially hazardous object belonging to it by right of ownership, economic management or operational management, or on other grounds provided for by legislation or contract, i.e., the owner of a potentially hazardous object is a legal entity operating the potentially hazardous object, and which, as the owner or by contract with the owner, bears responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Facilities of the gas distribution system commissioned after construction (including inlet gas pipelines) are subject to acceptance for operation in the manner defined by Chapter 2 of the Rules, while the condition for the participation of an official of the State Industrial Supervision Authority in the working commission for the acceptance for operation of construction facilities of low and medium pressure inlet gas pipelines to residential buildings is not mandatory.

In accordance with Article 86 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of October 14, 2022 No. 213-3 "On Licensing", a license to carry out activities in the field of industrial safety is required to perform design and installation work on gas distribution system facilities.

According to clause 8 of the Regulation on the natural gasification of the operated housing stock of citizens, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of June 2, 2006 No. 368, the design and installation of gas distribution system facilities (up to the shut-off device of the inlet gas pipeline) for the gasification of the operated housing stock of citizens are carried out by organizations that have a license to carry out activities in the field of industrial safety, the work and (or) services of which are related to hazardous production facilities, potentially hazardous facilities, and technical devices.

Responsibility for carrying out entrepreneurial activities without licenses, when such licenses are mandatory, is provided for by Part 1 of Article 13.3 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses.