The following is intended for landlords properties.
We are keen to highlight that, as set out below, landlords and their agents are responsible for their properties and have a duty of care to their tenants. This means registered gas engineers are not responsible for landlord’s gas safety checks being in place or up to date.
The Landlord and or Their Agents are responsable.
A landlord is anyone who rents out a property, such as residential dwelling, room to let or rental holiday accommodation that is subject to lease or license agreement. You may be classified as a short-term landlord, long term landlord or a lettings and management agent depending on the length and type of rental you are providing.
More clarification in your status as a landlord can be found on the HSE website.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR) outline your duties as a landlord to make sure all gas appliances, fittings, chimneys and flues are safe and working efficiently. If you’re letting a property with gas appliances installed, you’ve got three main legal responsibilities:
To ensure your tenants’ safety, all gas appliances and flues need to undergo an annual gas safety check – which should always be carried out by a suitably qualified Gas Safe registered engineer. Once this has been done, you’ll be given a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR) with details of all the checks that were carried out.
You can arrange for a gas safety check to be carried out any time from 10-12 months after the last completed check, without affecting the original expected expiry date. If it’s less than 10 months or more than 12 months after the last check, you’ll end up with a new deadline date 12 months from the most recent check . If you are unsure about your LGSR please contact Gas Safe Register to discuss your individual case.
Appliances owned by your tenants aren’t your direct responsibility – although it’s still up to you to ensure the safety of any connecting flues, unless they’re solely connected to the tenants’ appliance.
Following the annual gas safety check and receipt of your Landlord Gas Safety Record, you’ll need to provide a record of this check to your tenants. By law, a copy of your Landlord Gas Safety Record should be given to your current tenants within 28 days of the gas safety check – and for new tenants, you’ll need to provide this at the start of their tenancy.
For rental periods of less than 28 days, just make sure you’ve clearly displayed a copy of your gas safety record within the property. You’ll need to keep copies of this gas safety check record until a further two checks have been carried out.
You’ll need to make sure that all gas pipework, appliances, chimneys and flues are kept in safe condition. Check the gas appliances’ manufacturer guidelines to find out how often a service is recommended. If you haven’t got access to these, we’d recommend an annual service – unless your Gas Safe registered engineer suggests otherwise.
Installation pipework isn’t covered by the annual gas safety check, but both Gas Safe Register and the HSE recommend that when you request a safety check, you ask your Gas Safe registered engineer to:
There are no formal requirements for you to keep maintenance records, but you’ll need to be able to show that you have regularly maintained the pipework, appliances and flues and completed required repairs.
Posted on December 1, 2021
