Guidance update for weather sealing activity (activity 15)

17 January 2023

Special care needs to be taken by accredited persons and scheme participants when draught proofing and weather sealing premises where there are existing flueless gas space heaters or open-flued gas space heaters installed. These appliances require a certain amount of fixed ventilation to exhaust the products of combustion from the premises and to operate safely. Weather sealing and draught proofing in premises with these heaters can contribute to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Victorian Energy Upgrade (VEU) code of conduct requires that an accredited person or scheme participant carrying out lead generation or marketing activities for a prescribed activity must give a person clear and accurate information about the prescribed activity. For the weather sealing activity (activity 15), this will include providing consumers at premises that have one or more open flue gas space heater(s) and/or flueless gas space heater(s) with information on:

• the importance of ensuring adequate ventilation when using their gas heater to ensure its safe use as highlighted in Energy Safe Victoria’s Be Sure campaign and Heating your home safely with gas information page
• the advice by Victorian Building Authority and Sustainability Victoria that a licensed gasfitter should be engaged to check the safe operation of the appliances as part of weather sealing upgrades.

To mitigate the risks of breaching the VEU code of conduct obligations, we recommend accredited persons and scheme participants work to ensure that their installers or lead generators are provided appropriate training to identify which gas space heaters are flueless or have an open flue, and to communicate the above safety information to consumers.

Below are links to other useful information published by Energy Safe Victoria relevant to the undertaking of weather sealing activities in premises with open flue gas space heater(s) and/or flueless gas space heater(s):

• Guidance on the difference between a flueless/unflued gas heater and a room sealed gas heater
• Information on negative pressure environment
• Information on testing for negative pressure and carbon monoxide spillage by a licensed gasfitter

Updated documents and forms

We have updated the following documents and forms to support our administration and compliance monitoring of weather sealing activities under the VEU program:

• Space Conditioning, Shower Rose and Incandescent Lighting Activity Guide to reflect above guidance
• The VEEC creation form has been updated to capture a new field: Does premises have flueless/open-flue gas space heater? You can download a copy of the new form here.  Accredited persons will need to use the updated VEEC creation form to submit creations for weather sealing activities carried out from 1 February 2023.  

Where to get help

If you have any questions about this update, please contact the VEU support team by calling (03) 9032 1310, or email veu@esc.vic.gov.au.