What is a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate?

If you own a residential property which you rent out to another, you are obliged to undertake certain checks in accordance with a raft of regulations aimed at protecting the occupiers of rented property. One of these checks is set out under the provisions of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The Gas Safety Regulations require that a Landlord arrange for an annual inspection of their premises. The inspection must be undertaken by a suitably qualified and registered Gas Safety Engineer. For the purpose of this legislation, it is worth noting that if your property is let by the room or simply for bed & breakfast, you are still a Landlord for the purposes of these regulations and a Gas Safety Certificate is still required annually.

The inspection will be recorded on a special form, imaginatively entitled a Gas Safety Record Form. The form sets out specific information including, as a minimum;

• A description and location of each appliance/flue checked
• Name, registration number and signature of the engineer who carried out the check
• Date on which the check was carried out
• The address of the property where the appliance/flue is installed
• The name and address of the landlord (or their agent where applicable)
• Any safety defect identified and any action required or taken to rectify it

Confirmation of the results of the operational safety checks carried out on the appliances.

Of course, if the tests require that remedial action is taken, the Landlord must immediately arrange for this work to be done by a qualified engineer. If a tenant refuses you access to undertake an inspection or required works you do not have rights to access or disconnect unless they are included within the tenancy agreement. Therefore, make sure you take proper advice at the beginning of a tenancy as failure to the Landlord’s obligation to act under this legislation is not subject to you being able to do so!

If you can’t gain access, it is certainly prudent to record the fact that you have used your best endeavours to do so, including the service of notice on your tenant, explaining the importance of your request.

A landlord’s responsibilities under the Gas Safety requirements can be downloaded here.

Fo rmore information, contact our Bracknell lettings team.