Landlord Gas Safety Certificates

If you’re renting out a property, you have many responsibilities that you need to be aware of, not least those that relate to the safety and wellbeing of your tenants.

Where you provide gas appliances, such as a boiler, cooker, or gas fire, it is essential that these are working efficiently and that they pose no risk to those living in your property.

This article will examine what landlords in the UK with gas appliances in their property need to do to keep their rental in line with the law and their tenants safe, as well as how A&D Plumbing can help.  

Gas Safety in Rental Properties

The duties of a landlord as they relate to gas safety can be found in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR). Failure to follow this legislation is likely to result in severe penalties, especially if by doing so you are judged to have put your tenants’ lives at risk.

If your rental is being overseen by an experienced property management company, they will usually arrange the necessary checks. If you are managing the rental yourself, however, it is essential that you are fully appraised of everything you need to know and do.

• Gas Safety Checks

As a legal requirement, all the gas appliances and flues in your rental property need to be checked every year by a fully-qualified Gas Safe registered engineer.

Please note that any gas appliances brought into the property by your tenant are their own responsibility, although you still need to ensure that any connecting flues are in a safe condition, unless they are only connected to that appliance.

• Landlord Gas Safety Record

Once your appliances and flues have been checked, the engineer will issue you with a Landlord Gas Safety Record. This will give details of what checks the engineer has made, and will indicate whether everything is to their satisfaction. 

If they identify a problem, it will also state what remedial action needs to be taken. You will not need a fresh record once any issues have been resolved, you just need to keep records of the action taken.

If the engineer deems an appliance unsafe and turns it off, it should not be used no matter how inconvenient this might be to you or your tenant. You may need to provide your tenant with emergency heating, hot water or cooking facilities until you are able to get the matter resolved.

You will in fact receive two copies of the gas safety record: you should keep one for your own records, but one should be left with the tenant within 28 days of the check, or at the start of any new tenancy. Please note that for tenancies of less than 28 days, you just need to display a copy of the certificate. You should retain your copy of your gas safety record until two further checks have been made.

• Maintenance

For appliances that require maintenance, this should be carried out in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines. Again, this needs to be done by a suitably qualified engineer, who will also be able to advise how often this needs to be done (although we would normally recommend at least once a year).

• Carbon Monoxide Detectors

As a result of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, you need to make sure that “a carbon monoxide alarm is equipped in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (excluding gas cookers)”. On the first day of a new tenancy, checks should be made to ensure the alarm is in full working order. Your CO alarm should conform to British Standard EN 50291 and should carry a British or European approval mark, such as a Kitemark.

Here at A&D Plumbing, we are Gas Safe registered engineers who can carry out the necessary annual gas safety records to ensure your property in and around Colchester, Braintree and Ipswich is 100% safe for you and your tenants.

Find out more about landlord gas safety certificates or book a safety check with one of our experienced engineers by getting in touch with us today.