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

The State Industrial Safety Authority (Gosgortekhnadzor) 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.

In accordance with 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), PHOs are subject to registration if they are classified in accordance with clause 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 excess pressure of up to 1.2 MPa or LPG with an excess pressure 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 a 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
PHOs, the owner of the PHO applies to the State Industrial Supervision Authority – a subject of industrial safety, including a state body, which operates the PHO owned by it by right of ownership, economic management or operational management, or on other grounds provided for by legislation or agreement, i.e., the owner of the PHO is a legal entity that operates the PHO and which, as the owner or under an agreement with the owner, bears responsibility in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Objects of the gas distribution system (including gas pipeline inlets) put into operation after construction 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 of low and medium pressure gas pipeline inlet construction objects into 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", to perform work on the design and installation of gas distribution system objects, a license for the right to carry out activities in the field of industrial safety is required.

In accordance with clause 8 of the Regulation on the gasification of the operating residential stock of citizens with natural gas, 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 gas pipeline inlet) for the gasification of the operating residential stock of citizens are carried out by organizations that have a license to carry out activities in the field of industrial safety, which include work and (or) services related to hazardous production facilities, facilities for the storage and disposal of waste, and technical devices.

Liability 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.