Gas safety & Servicing

In relation to domestic gas under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GS(IU)R 98), a landlord is anyone who rents out a property.Regardless of whether you are a landlord under GS(IU)R 98, you may be considered a landlord under other related legislation. Landlords’ duties apply to a wide range of accommodation, occupied under a lease or licence, which includes, but not is not limited to:

• Residential premises provided for rent by local authorities, housing associations, private sector landlords, housing co-operatives, hostels
• Rooms let in bed-sit accommodation, private households, bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels
• Rented holiday accommodation such as chalets, cottages, flats, caravans and narrowboats on inland waterways.

As a landlord, you are responsible for the safety of your tenants. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 deal with landlords’ duties to make sure gas appliances, fittings and flues provided for tenants are safe.

Appliances, fittings and flues in a communal area which may be used by tenants are also included. You are responsible for the maintenance and repair of flues, appliances and pipework provided for your tenants use by a Gas Safe Registered engineer. Although there is no prescribed timeframe for these duties, good practice would be the demonstration of regular, annual maintenance checks and subsequent repairs.

You are also responsible for ensuring an annual gas safety check is carried out within 12 months of the installation of a new appliance or flue which you provide and annually thereafter by a Gas Safe Registered engineer. You must keep a record of the safety check for 2 years and issue a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed and issue a copy to any new tenants before they move in. Our customer portal provides an easy way to store your certificates for Life for FREE.

Yes. All Gas Appliances in a property have to be tested during an inspection.

This would be classed as ‘At risk’ and would result in your gas certificate being revoked. ‘At risk’ is a risk classification used by gas engineers, and in this case means that your boiler and flue system could become dangerous in the future. The engineer can’t examine the length of the flue to confirm whether it’s safe, so it is deemed ‘At risk’ and results in your Gas Safety certificate failing.

As of 1st October 2015, by law every rental property should have a smoke alarm on every floor of a property.

This could be for one of two reasons: 1. Gas Safe regulation has changed or 2. The engineer you’ve used in the past didn’t inspect your property according to regulation.

The gas safety check record is a record of the results of the checks carried out for the annual gas safety check. It should be issued on completion of the checks and not delayed (even if defects are found) or until necessary remedial action has been taken. The record is a ‘living document’ and landlords should supplement it with records of any follow up action taken (if required). This will provide a full record of the gas safety within the property.