A guide to landlords’ gas safety checks and records

Is your boiler safe for your tenants?

For a new gas boiler, an annual check must be carried out within 12 months of installation. If a tenant leaves your property, it is then the landlord’s obligation to ensure gas appliances and fittings are safe before re-letting. You are required to provide the new tenants with a current gas safety record before the property is re-let.

What if my boiler fails the safety check?

If your boiler or any gas appliance within the property fails the safety check, the safety check record will contain details of any safety defect identified and the action that is required.

As the landlord, you must ensure that any gas safety defect is rectified by a Gas Safe registered engineer before the boiler is used again. We’d always recommend that you keep records of the work undertaken on your boiler.

Until the work has been undertaken to rectify any defect identified by a Gas Safe registered engineer, it is an offence to use or allow the use of a gas appliance.

What does the new legislation mean for you?

Landlords can now arrange for gas safety checks to be conducted any time between 10 and 12 months after the previous gas safety check, however, you can still retain the original date if it is undertaken within 12 months of the previous check.

This change in regulation is not compulsory and landlords may continue with their existing regime of gas safety checking, providing it meets the minimum legal requirements as detailed in Regulation 36. It is still the landlord’s legal duty and you must be able to demonstrate checks have been made within the required timescales.

How often should pipework be maintained?

You have a duty to maintain the gas pipework for any properties you let. It is something that can and should be undertaken at the same time as the annual safety check.

There is no formal or legal requirement to keep maintenance records for pipework, however, you would be required to prove, if asked that the properties pipework from the meter (or emergency control valve in the case of an LPG installation) has been regularly maintained.

Risk if gas appliances are not maintained

If you do not maintain gas appliances, this may in some cases result in loss of life. As the landlord you risk being prosecuted, which could result in imprisonment, a fine of up to £20,000, or both, for every offence.

If the case is referred to the Crown Court, the maximum penalty may be imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both.