What a landlord needs to know about gas safety…

As a gas engineer some of the most common jobs I carry out are for landlords. Most frequently the carrying out of a gas certificate. As a landlord you are legally obligated under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use)Regulations 1998 to arrange maintenance by a Gas Safe registered engineer for all pipe work, appliances and flues, which you own and have provided for the tenants use.

As a landlord you must also arrange for an annual gas safety check to be carried out every 12 months 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. Until as recently as 2020 not having a valid gas certificate meant that you could end up being unable to evict your tenants should the need arise.

A valid Gas safety certificate can only be carried out by a certified Gas Safe engineer, who will provide you with a certificate that you can issue a copy of to your tenants.

Landlords also have a legal responsibility to provide smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as stated in the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 came into force. From the 1st October 2015, private rented sector landlords have been required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every floor of their properties and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where solid fuel is used. After that, the landlord must make sure the alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy.

So if you are thinking of renting out a property to tenants be sure to contact a gas safe engineer and make sure you have everything up to code.

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