Commercial kitchen gas fit-out: what your gas fitter needs from you

Commercial kitchen gas fit-out requirements come down to who is allowed to do the work and what they need from you. The second is where fit-outs stall: the equipment list changes late or the plans are not final.

Who can do gas work in a commercial kitchen

Under the Petroleum and Gas (Safety) Regulation 2018, commercial catering equipment such as fryers, ovens, griddles, boiling tables and bratt pans is a type A gas device. Gas work on a type A device needs a gas work licence. Gas fitting licences are issued by the Chief Gas Examiner and Resources Safety and Health Queensland, not the QBCC, so ask to see the licence for the gas work itself.

The duty is yours as well as the fitter's. The regulation says the owner of a gas system must take reasonable steps to make sure a suitably qualified person carries out the installation, servicing and repair. Hiring the right person is part of meeting it. Our commercial gas fit-outs page covers how we run these jobs.

What your gas fitter needs from you

• Every gas appliance you plan to run, with make and model if you have them. Each one has a gas rating, and together they decide the size of the line from the meter.
• Which gas you are on: natural gas from the network, or LPG from bottles or a tank. Appliances are set up for one or the other.
• A floor plan to scale showing where each appliance sits and where the gas meter is.
• Your ventilation details: the exhaust and make-up air design for the cooking line. Mechanical ventilation has its own standard, AS 1668.2:2024, and the council asks for these details too.
• The dates the kitchen has to be trading, and which days it can go without gas.
• Where the emergency gas shut-off is, or where you want it.

Give the fitter the whole list at once, not appliance by appliance. A line sized for four burners does not suit a kitchen that adds a fryer and a combi oven later.

Why the appliance ratings matter

Before gas work starts on a new gas system on the network, or on adding an appliance that can consume more than 100 MJ in an hour, the regulation requires the fitter to tell the gas network operator what the work is and what demand it puts on the network's supply. That is the fitter's job, not yours. It only works if the ratings you supplied are the real ones.

The standard that governs the installation is AS/NZS 5601.1. The regulation lists it as a preferred standard, and Standards Australia says the 2022 edition replaced the 2013 one. You do not need to read it, only to hire a fitter who works to the current edition.

Know where the gas shuts off

After a commercial kitchen incident where an open gas connection ignited, Resources Safety and Health Queensland recommended gas work by a suitably qualified licence holder and an easily identifiable and accessible emergency gas shut-off valve. Every cook on the line should know where it is before the first service.

The gas compliance certificate at handover

When the installation is complete, the licence holder must give the gas compliance certificate to the owner, operator or proposed operator of the gas system. The same regulation requires a copy to go to the network operator within 5 business days. Ask for yours at handover and keep it with the lease and fit-out records. More on gas compliance certificates.

The council food licence is a separate step

The City of Gold Coast says you need a licence to handle or prepare unpackaged food as part of a business, and licences run to 31 August each year. A new fit-out application needs a scaled floor plan, cross-section drawings, a site plan, and cooking and ventilation equipment details, including the types and the energy type and rating. The council also says to confirm the site has the right development approval before you apply.

The council wants the same appliance list as your gas fitter, so get it right once. The licence covers the food business; the certificate covers the gas installation.