By Mohammed Miah, Gas Safe registered heating engineer
If you're a landlord in England or Wales and your rental property has gas appliances, pipework or a flue, you have specific legal duties under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. This isn't a grey area or best-practice suggestion, it's a legal requirement enforced by the Health and Safety Executive.
What you're required to do
- Have every gas appliance and flue you own checked annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
- Get a Gas Safety Record (often still called a CP12) for each check, and keep copies for at least 2 years.
- Give a copy of the current record to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in.
- Keep pipework, appliances and flues you own in a safe condition, maintained in line with the manufacturer's instructions.
What happens if you don't
Failing to meet these duties is a criminal offence. The HSE can prosecute, and penalties include unlimited fines and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment. Beyond the legal risk, it's the reason the regulations exist in the first place, a faulty gas appliance genuinely puts tenants at risk.
One certificate, multiple properties
If you manage more than one rental property, it's worth keeping a simple calendar of each property's check date rather than relying on memory, the 28-day window for a new certificate creeping past unnoticed is a common way landlords end up non-compliant without realising it. We can also set a reminder and book your annual checks in advance if that's easier.
