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Oil, gas and electrical work in Herefordshire

Just over half of Herefordshire households heat with mains gas alone, against three in four across England. One in six heats with oil only. [1]

Facts checked against their sources on 2 October 2026.

Herefordshire against England, 2021 Census

Share of households. Each bar runs from 0 to 100%.

Heated by gas

  • Mains gas only [1]

    Herefordshire 53.7%England 74.0%

  • Tank or bottled gas only [1]

    Herefordshire 3.5%England 1.0%

Heated without gas

  • Oil only [1]

    Herefordshire 16.2%England 3.2%

  • Electric only [1]

    Herefordshire 8.1%England 8.7%

  • Wood or solid fuel only [1]

    Herefordshire 1.2%England 0.3%

The home

  • Detached house [2]

    Herefordshire 42.4%England 22.9%

  • Owned outright [3]

    Herefordshire 42.3%England 32.5%

Oil and solid fuel installations

The same across England.

  • Fitting an oil-fired appliance, or an oil storage tank and the pipes to the appliance, can be self-certified by an installer registered for that work with a competent person scheme. The Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) is one of the listed schemes. [4, 5]
  • The same applies to a solid fuel appliance other than a biomass one, where HETAS is one of the listed schemes. Without a registered installer, the work goes through building control. [4, 5]
CD/10 Oil Firing Installation Completion ReportSolid Fuel Appliance Installation Record

Private water supplies

  • Herefordshire Council estimates that between 5 and 10% of the county's people use a private water supply. Most are in rural parts, fed from a well, borehole, spring, stream, river, lake or pond. [6]
  • The council must risk assess every shared or commercially used private supply once every five years. A supply to a privately rented home or a holiday home counts as commercial, and those supplies are usually sampled once a year. [6]
  • Mains water in the county comes from Welsh Water, and in part from Severn Trent Water. [6]

Training

  • Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College runs a Level 3 gas engineering apprenticeship in Hereford over 24 to 27 months, leading to ACS registration. It asks for a Level 2 plumbing and heating qualification or two years of relevant work first. [9]
  • Its Herefordshire College lists electrical installation and plumbing courses at Level 2 and a Level 3 building services engineering T Level on the electrical side. [10]

Building control

  • Herefordshire Council building control is at Plough Lane, Hereford, on 01432 261938. It takes full plans, building notice and regularisation applications, and charges for each. [7, 8]

Jobs on CertBox Jobs

Heating engineer jobsGas engineer jobsElectrician jobsPlumber jobs

Sources

  1. 1ONS Census 2021, table TS046 Central heating (Nomis)Herefordshire (E06000019): 82,827 households; mains gas only 44,470 (53.7%); tank or bottled gas only 2,892 (3.5%); oil only 13,389 (16.2%); electric only 6,730 (8.1%); wood only 681 and solid fuel only 318 (1.2% together). England: mains gas only 74.0%, tank or bottled gas 1.0%, oil 3.2%, electric 8.7%, wood or solid fuel 0.3%.
  2. 2ONS Census 2021, table TS044 Accommodation type (Nomis)Herefordshire: detached 35,100 (42.4%). England: detached 22.9%.
  3. 3ONS Census 2021, table TS054 Tenure (Nomis)Herefordshire: owns outright 35,070 (42.3%). England: owns outright 32.5%.
  4. 4Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 3 (self-certification schemes)Item 2: oil-fired combustion appliance, or oil storage tanks and connecting pipes; schemes include Oil Firing Technical Association Limited. Item 3: solid fuel-burning appliance other than biomass; schemes include HETAS Limited.
  5. 5Building Regulations 2010, regulation 12Paragraph (2): building notice or full plans application before building work. Paragraph (6): not needed for work described in Schedule 3 carried out by a person described there.
  6. 6Herefordshire Council, Water suppliesAn estimated 5 to 10 percent of Herefordshire's population use a private supply; most in rural parts. Shared and commercially used supplies, including privately rented homes and holiday homes, risk assessed once every five years and usually sampled once a year. Mains water from Welsh Water and in part Severn Trent Water.
  7. 7Herefordshire Council, Contact building controlHerefordshire Council Building Control, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE; 01432 261938.
  8. 8Herefordshire Council, Choose which building regulations application to useFull plans, building notice or regularisation application; building control charges apply to each route.
  9. 9Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College, Gas EngineeringLevel 3 apprenticeship, location Hereford, 24 to 27 months; City & Guilds Level 3 Gas Engineering and ACS registration; entry with a relevant Level 2 plumbing and heating qualification or two plus years of relevant work.
  10. 10Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College, Herefordshire College coursesLists Electrical Installation Level 2, Plumbing Level 2, and Engineering (Electrical) Building Services Level 3 T Level.