Spain's gas inspection: €60 for a hob nobody uses

A butano inspection letter arriving at an empty flat

A flat with a butane bottle connected to a hob that is no longer used. Nobody lives there. And yet the distributor's letter arrives: it's time for the periodic gas inspection, with the threat of consequences if it isn't done. The price, just over 60 euros to check whether the hose is still in good condition, without the amount including replacing it. The question the case raises is twofold: is there a real fine for skipping the inspection, and is it worth explaining that the hob is dead, or is it better to ignore the whole thing?

The short answer is that the obligation exists, but it is not the one the letter suggests. Real Decreto 919/2006 (a Spanish royal decree) sets a periodic inspection every five years for bottled gas installations, and the person responsible is the contract holder or, failing that, the user. So far, the official story. From there, the nuance matters: according to one participant, the regulations distinguish between fixed installations —boiler, built-in hob— and portable appliances, such as the typical freestanding cooker with oven and wheels or catalytic heaters, which are not subject to that inspection.

Who can carry out the inspection and for how much

The key that dismantles the letter is another one: the supplier cannot carry out inspections. Distributors are required to inspect a percentage of installations on their own and report to the authorities, but the user's inspection can be carried out by any authorised installer of your choice. As long as the company is authorised by Industry, the certificate is valid. The letter with the oil company's logo actually comes from a subcontracted installer.

The price differential says it all. Compared with the just over 60 euros in the letter —which in a recent case broke down as 48.04 euros for the inspection plus 12.80 in administration fees, both excluding VAT— an independent installer can work out considerably cheaper. There is a documented case of 36 euros in 2007. And someone with an industrial propane installation received a quote of 240 euros because it included replacing the regulators, presented with the tagline of "just a few cents a day".

Home insurance and the expired hose

The intuition behind the initial approach is right: without inspections, home insurance may not cover an incident involving gas. But the nuance is finer. The hose connecting the bottle to the appliance expires and must be replaced by law, because a leak caused by an out-of-date hose can indeed leave the incident outside coverage. For portable cookers, it is enough to change the hose and ask the butane delivery man to certify that it is within date.

There lies the paradox running through the whole issue: the inspection is sold as safety, but what really protects you —the hose— does not always come with the price. And the letter, with its generic threat, does not distinguish between a boiler in use and a hob that has not been switched on for years.

The gas MOT: fair rule or business

The contrast with the car MOT comes up early: you take the car in for its inspection even if the vehicle is spotless because the rule exists and there is a fine if you are stopped without it. The question is whether the same happens here. The sceptical camp is clear: the obligation becomes a rip-off when the supplier itself turns a cost into a business via subcontracting. The institutional camp replies that the rule exists and that gas installations can do a lot of damage.

Between both extremes, the practical way out that keeps coming up: look for authorised installers in your area, get several quotes and go with the cheapest one. The certificate is just as valid. And if the installation is portable, there is not even an inspection to pass: just a new hose.

How many letters like this must be being sent to homes where gas is now only a memory in the shape of a bottle?