A gas safety certificate from Mark costs from £80 across Doncaster and South Yorkshire. It is the yearly check a landlord must have by law on every gas appliance and flue provided for tenants, carried out by a Gas Safe registered business (979299), and it gives you the written record your tenants have to be handed.
What does the law ask of a landlord?
The rules are the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and HSE's guide for landlords sets out the duties plainly. They cover homes let for living in, which in practice means any lease under seven years. As the landlord, you need to:
Have every gas appliance and flue you provide safety checked every year, by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Check before a new tenancy starts. The check must have been done within the year before the lease begins, or within 12 months of installation for anything newer than that.
Give tenants their copy. Existing tenants within 28 days of the check, new tenants before they move in.
Keep the record until two further checks have been carried out. HSE notes this can be longer than two years.
Keep everything in a safe condition in between. HSE says appliances should be serviced in line with the manufacturer's instructions.
You cannot hand these duties to a tenant, and using a letting agent does not move the responsibility off you either.
Is a gas safety check the same as a service?
No. A gas safety check is the one the law requires of landlords: it looks at whether each gas appliance and flue is safe, against the points the regulations list, and produces a gas safety record. From £80.
A service is maintenance: the boiler is worked on as its maker's instructions set out, to keep it running well and its warranty in order. From £90.
HSE is clear that one does not stand in for the other: "You should not assume that an annual service inspection meets the safety check requirement, or that a safety check will, on its own, be sufficient to provide effective maintenance." A landlord with a gas boiler usually needs both. The boiler service is booked separately.
What does a gas safety check examine?
How well the flue works That it takes the fumes outside.
The supply of air for combustion A gas appliance needs enough air to burn cleanly.
Operating pressure or heat input, or both
Combustion performance
That the appliance operates safely
Those five points are the matters listed in regulation 26(9) of the Gas Safety Regulations, and each gas appliance and flue you provide is checked against them. The record then has to confirm the check covered them.
What goes on the gas safety record?
HSE lists what a valid record must show:
a description and the location of each appliance or flue checked
the name, registration number and signature of the engineer who did the check
the date of the check
the address of the property
your name and address as landlord, or your agent's
any safety-related defect found, and any action taken to put it right
Heat Pump Energy is Gas Safe registered, number 979299.
If an appliance fails
The record will say what the defect is and what was done about it. HSE's guidance is that the defect must be put right by a Gas Safe registered engineer before the appliance is used again, and that it is an offence to use, or let anyone use, a gas appliance you know to be unsafe. An appliance that has been isolated or disconnected for safety should never be reconnected until the fault is fixed.
How much is a gas safety certificate in Doncaster?
Gas safety certificate (CP12)For landlords, and for homeowners who want a check.
Yes, within limits. Since a 2018 change to the regulations, a check carried out any time from 10 to 12 months after the last one keeps the original deadline, as if it had been done exactly 12 months on. So booking a few weeks early does not shorten your year. It is optional: HSE says landlords can use the flexibility if they wish.
Not by law. The yearly check is a duty on landlords, not on people living in their own home. A homeowner can still have one, for peace of mind or after moving into a house whose gas history is unknown, and Mark does gas safety checks for homeowners too.
What if my tenant will not let the engineer in?
You have to take all reasonable steps to get the check done and be able to show it. HSE suggests giving written notice that explains the reason, and keeping a record of every attempt. It says its inspectors look for at least three attempts. The regulations give you no power to force entry, so a tenant who keeps refusing may become a matter for the courts under the tenancy agreement.
Does the check cover my tenant's own gas cooker?
No. Appliances the tenant owns are not covered, and neither is a flue that serves only a tenant's appliance. You do still have responsibilities for parts of the installation and pipework that lead to it.
Do I have to fit a carbon monoxide alarm as well?
In England, yes, in the right rooms. Since 1 October 2022, private landlords must have a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, such as a gas boiler. Gas cookers are the exception. You also have to repair or replace an alarm once you are told it is faulty and find it is. That rule sits in separate regulations from the gas safety check.
Can I give tenants an electronic copy of the record?
Yes, if the tenant agrees to it. HSE says a paper copy must still be provided if they ask for one.
I use a letting agent. Whose job is the check?
Legally it stays yours. HSE says the landlord keeps overall responsibility, and that the management contract should say clearly who arranges the maintenance and safety checks and who keeps the records.
Heat Pump Energy
