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The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT) has filed an application with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to operate a gas safety scheme. The move challenges CORGI's long-held monopoly and offers firms a one-stop shop for gas, electricity, plumbing and heating and ventilation competent person schemes.

Bruce Allen, registration and development director for NAPIT, said: "More often than not tradespeople operate across a number of disciplines and therefore having a single solution for heating, electrical, plumbing and ventilation schemes seems sensible.

"However, having only one organisation being able to offer that because of their monopoly on gas seems fundamentally flawed: we believe competition is healthy for the marketplace."

However, Tim Ottridge, managing director of CORGI Gas Registration, slammed the HSE's decision to consider NAPIT, saying: "I am surprised and disappointed that the HSE has decided to take this step while in the process of undertaking a wide-ranging review into gas safety, which includes looking at whether there should be more than one registration provider.

"This is an opportunistic bid to gain commercial advantage in the marketplace. We are actively engaged in debate of options for change but we believe that consumer safety will be detrimentally affected by the introduction of more than one gas registration scheme. It is highly likely that multiple schemes will result in an increase in deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning."

NAPIT's competent persons scheme for the electrical sector insists on both individual competence and company registration and is therefore similar to the CORGI gas model.

It is this philosophy which NAPIT believes will support its application to run an effective gas safety scheme. It was also recently authorised to run schemes in plumbing and heating and ventilation.

Bruce Allen and NAPIT non-executive director Bob Henry both have experience in the gas sector, each formerly working for CORGI as registration manager and chief executive, respectively.

Allen says: "We want to use our experience to make the NAPIT scheme as easy for tradespeople as possible. Nothing will change in terms of the gas qualifications required - it will still be the ACS and UKAS system of accreditation - but we will be able to offer an alternative to CORGI."