Gas Safety


If you let a property equipped with gas appliances you are responsible for the safety of your tenants and you have three main responsibilities:

Maintenance
pipework, appliances and flues must be maintained in a safe condition. Gas appliances should be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If these are not available it is recommended that they are serviced annually unless advised otherwise by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Gas Safety checks
A 12 monthly gas safety check must be carried out on every gas appliance/flue.  A gas safety check will make sure gas fittings and appliances are safe to use.

Record
A record of the annual gas safety check must be provided to your tenant within 28 days of the check being completed or to new tenants before they move in. Landlords must keep copies of the gas safety record for two years.

All installation, maintenance and safety checks need to be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.  If a tenant has their own gas appliance that you have not provided, then you are responsible for the maintenance of the gas pipework but not for the actual appliance.

You should also make sure your tenants know where to turn off the gas and what to do in the event of a gas emergency.

Electrical safety

View the most up to date Government guidelines

 

Energy performance certificate

A landlord must make sure that a valid Energy Performance Certificate is available to all of their prospective tenants from 1 October 2008. The Energy Performance Certificate and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by a landlord to their tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

when any written information about the building is given in response to a request for information received from a prospective tenant; or

when a prospective tenant views the property; or

if neither of those occur, before the landlord enters into a tenancy agreement to let out the property.

A new certificate will not be required on each let since, in the case of rental property, EPCs will be valid for 10 years.