Making sure you are Gas Safe Compliant

If you are a seasoned Landlord you will know the importance of making sure you obtain a Gas Safety Record every 12 months. Not least because you want to know that your property and tenants are safe and protected.

Any rented property with a gas supply is required by law to have the safety of any gas appliances, fittings and pipework checked. This must be done by a competent Gas Safe registered engineer who will issue you with a Gas Safety Record.

Crucially this isn’t a pass or fail certificate, it is a record that the check has been done. Whilst Landlords will of course ensure any failed appliances are repaired and in safe working order, you can still let the property where there is an appliance that has failed to meet the standards, you will just need to ensure it is isolated.

In 2018 amendments were made to The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations in respect of the timing of Gas Safety checks. Whilst the requirement to check all gas appliances, fittings and pipework remains at once every 12 months, it was recognised that many Landlords were leaving it until the expiry of the previous record to have the next check carried out. Finding an available Gas Safe engineer and arranging for the check to be done is not always as straightforward as it seems and the unintended consequence was that some Landlords were left with a period of time where they were not compliant.

To re-balance this, the Amendment regulations now allow for a Gas Safety check to be done up to two months before expiry and that check can then be treated as having been made on the deadline date. Much like a car MOT. For example, if your certificate runs out on the 30th November 2019, you can have the check done anytime from the 30th September 2019 and the new Gas Safety Record will run until 30th November 2020.

The regulations also introduced an allowance for new appliances installed during the life of the current Gas Safety Record to be checked up to 14 months after they were first installed. So, if a new boiler was installed on the 30th September 2019 it doesn’t need to be checked again until the 30th November 2020.

A Gas Safety Record should also be served on your existing tenants within 28 days and crucially before occupation on a new tenancy. Failure to do the latter can lead to a Section 21 notice being invalid. Having no Gas Safety Record is a breach of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as well as potentially affecting your Buildings Insurance and the safety of your tenants.

We’d be happy to give further guidance on this to any Landlords in need.

Please note the date this article was published as the law may have changed since it was posted. You should always seek independent legal advice if you are intending to rely on any of the contents.