For trainee gas engineers, the time you spend assembling your portfolio will form an incredibly valuable stage of your training. 

This period is an opportunity to test your skills in real-life environments while still having the safety net of working under a qualified engineer, who can ensure everything you do meets the latest industry standards. 

Throughout the portfolio stage, you’ll need to carry out a variety of work relating to gas appliance installation, maintenance and servicing. Your progress must be documented via photos and paperwork, which will then be signed off by a qualified engineer with their Gas Safe registration number. 

How long does a gas portfolio take?

Once you have successfully finished your initial training, you’ll need to log 150 hours of supervised gas work before your portfolio can be deemed complete and you can move on to the next stage of your training. 

What is required of the gas portfolio? 

All engineers must demonstrate they can competently and safely carry out a wide range of tasks they would expect to encounter when working in the field as a domestic gas engineer. 

While everyone’s portfolio can look different, there are set criteria that must be met before moving to the next stage of your training. This includes evidence of: 

  • Boiler installations including pipework
  • Servicing boilers
  • Installation pipe defects / unsafe situations
  • Tightness testing
  • Gas escapes
  • Purging
  • Meter regulator settings check
  • Combustion analysis and flame pictures
  • Gas rates
  • Operating pressures on appliances 
  • Ventilation checks
  • Control faults 

How do I find a gas work placement? 

Ultimately, the responsibility of sourcing a work placement to complete your gas portfolio lies with the individual. This isn’t always a straightforward process and can lead to roadblocks when it comes to completing your training and becoming qualified. 

For this reason, Able Skills ensures anyone, whether they’ve undertaken their initial training with us or elsewhere, can easily gain a work placement through our partnership with Wrightway Gas.

Any student enrolled on an eligible Able Skills gas course can take advantage of this placement partnership as part of their training package. 

For those who haven’t completed the early stages of their training with us, but who have undertaken a course with an LCL Awards training provider and now need a placement, our standalone Gas Portfolio Completion is available to ensure you’re able to progress your training to the ACS assessment stage. 

You can find more information about all Able Skills gas training, including our dedicated portfolio completion package, online here.