Gas safety rules, minus the jargon

Your three legal duties

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 boil down to three things if you let property with gas:

• Annual check. Every gas appliance and flue checked every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. That's the CP12, formally the Landlord Gas Safety Record
• Maintenance. Appliances and pipework kept in safe condition between checks, which in practice means fixing faults when they're reported, promptly
• Paperwork. Tenants get a copy of the record within 28 days of the check. New tenants get it before they move in. Keep each record for at least two years

Penalties for getting this wrong run from fines to, in the genuinely bad cases, prosecution. And your landlord insurance almost certainly assumes you're compliant, so a missing certificate can hollow out your cover exactly when you'd need it.

The early-renewal rule worth knowing

You can have the check done up to two months before the current record expires and keep the original expiry date. So a certificate expiring 1st September can be renewed any time from 1st July, and the new one still runs to 1st September next year. There is no reason to cut it fine. Renew early, every time, and the deadline stops being a deadline.

What the check involves

Half an hour to an hour, depending on how many appliances. The engineer tests gas tightness at the meter, checks burner pressure against the manufacturer's figures, inspects flues and ventilation, and confirms safety devices work. Each appliance gets a pass or a defect classification. Most defects are minor and fixable within days; anything immediately dangerous gets made safe on the spot, which usually means disconnection until it's repaired.

Worth repeating from our servicing guide: the CP12 confirms the boiler is safe, not that it's healthy. The annual service is a separate job, and doing both in one visit is cheaper than two call-outs.

The access problem

Every landlord eventually meets the tenant who won't answer the door for the gas check. You can't force entry, but you can protect yourself: write to them explaining it's a legal requirement, attempt access at least three times, and keep records of every attempt. That documented trail is what the HSE expects to see if it ever comes to it.

Make it someone else's problem

Ours, specifically. We run rolling renewal schedules for landlords around Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth: we track the dates, book with the tenant directly if you like, do the check and the service together, and email you the certificate. Your job shrinks to reading one email a year. Details here, or ring 07565 917596.

Set up a renewal schedule