Our History

And this is how it all started...In the 1930s, the government Fuel Research Station started the first work on the accurate measurement of heat emissions from solid fuel appliances. During the Second World War, the Ministry of Fuel and Power began to establish test methods and realistic standards of performance for all types of domestic solid fuel heating appliances. The first official Appliance Approval Scheme sprung out of this.

View of our Site (c.1985)

This Scheme was operated by the Ministry of Power with the help of the coal and gas industries. When the gas industry withdrew from the production of solid fuel, the National Coal Board and subsequently British Coal Corporation took over as the sole operating agent. Their laboratories were at the Coal Research Establishment near Cheltenham, which is still GaC's operational base.

Throughout the 70s and 80s the emphasis for our work was on fuel utilisation and environmental impact. In the early 1990s, we became the approved test house for solid fuel & appliance manufacturers, and ancillary equipment manufacturers.

We joined forces with Netherlands-based Gastec in 1994, incorporating gas appliance testing into our portfolio. Our business has continued to evolve and expand, and we now have a sister company, c:sense which provides a carbon verification service.

Our Dutch shareholder, Gastec, is now part of the Kiwa group, which makes GaC part of the largest certification company in Europe.