If you are a landlord or a tenant, you may be wondering: Who is responsible for gas safety certificate? We look at who needs Gas safety checks and what are the landlord responsibilities for gas safety.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GAS SAFETY CERTIFICATES?
Gas Safety is an important part of making sure a living or working space is habitable and that its gas systems function as they should.
Since this is such an important facet of health and safety, there is a lot of legislation and rules that dictate the who’s and the what’s and whys for determining responsibility. Typically, however, the landlord must arrange for a gas safety check.
WHO IS A LANDLORD?
As you will most likely know, a landlord is someone who you pay rent to when you want to live in a house or apartment on a regular basis that you don’t want to buy.
Regarding Gas Safety, however, landlords are more specifically any persons who rent out a property they own on a lease shorter than 7 years or under some other license.
A landlord’s Gas Safety obligations don’t just apply to houses and apartments with long-term occupants.
They also need to uphold their responsibilities with any temporary accommodation they let out, such as B&B’s and holiday accommodation or hostels.
WHAT ARE YOUR LANDLORD RESPONSIBILITIES FOR GAS SAFETY?
As a landlord, you are responsible for the following:
GAS SAFETY CHECKS
A Gas Safety check is an annual check that you need to ensure a Gas Safe registered engineer performs.
The purpose of this check is to make sure that all of the property’s gas appliances and related infrastructure are maintained sufficiently and don’t pose a risk to your tenant’s health, such as in the form of a fire hazard or a potential carbon monoxide leak.
Provided you have this check performed on time, you will be granted a Gas Safety certificate which is a summary of every appliance that was checked, its condition and any repairs that were made.
One thing to note is that any appliances bought or owned by the tenants themselves are not the landlords’ responsibility and don’t have to be included in the Gas Safety checks.
While this may be the case, any gas pipework or flues that connect to the said appliance are still under the purview of the landlord.
GAS SAFETY RECORD
Landlords must keep a Landlord Gas Safety Record, a list of all the maintenance and repairs made during the annual Gas Safety check.
If you are a landlord letting tenants stay for a while, you are responsible for showing them this record; otherwise, if they are staying within 28 days, then it is acceptable to have the record displayed within the property.
MAINTENANCE
To ensure the efficiency and safety of any gas appliances on a property, landlords must have regular maintenance performed by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
The regularity of these scheduled maintenance checks is up to the landlord, but it is highly advisable to perform it at least once a year besides the annual Gas Safety check.
Depending on what appliances are on the premises and any advice from the engineer who performs the check, it may be wise to have more regular maintenance.
Regardless this kind of maintenance is a separate thing from the Gas Safe certification, and as such, landlords are not legally required to keep a record of it.
However, they will still need to be able to prove the property is safe and well maintained to their tenants or any inspectors.
WHO NEEDS GAS SAFETY CHECKS?
While it is a given that landlords are responsible for Gas Safety checks, many circumstances may lead to uncertainty over whether or not they remain fully responsible or if they might share that responsibility with a tenant.
SUBLETTING TO A TENANT
Landlords may find themselves in a situation where another person, such as a tenant or a licensor, allows another person to share their living space while not owning the property.
They may even charge the person they are sharing with a kind of rent but make no mistake; they are not technically the landlords of the property. In this situation, the responsibility of Gas Safety still lies with the original landlord and not the ‘subletter’ or tenant.
This may not be the case only if the property is being rented out by a subletter not living on the property.
In this case, the landlord and subletter may reach an agreement via contract on where Gas Safety and other responsibilities lie.
FAMILY MEMBERS STAYING IN MY HOME
If you are simply someone who lets a family member stay with you on a temporary or permanent basis, then no, you are not required to perform a Gas Safety check.
However, just because you don’t have to doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
Maintenance and regular servicing of all gas appliances and piping in a household will go a long way to ensure the home is safe.
It will also help everything is running efficiently, which will save money on bills.
DOMESTIC STAFF LIVING IN MY HOME
If you have staff such as cleaners or cooks or anyone like that living in your home, then you are legally classed as a landlord and, as such, are required to arrange an annual Gas Safety check.
A LODGER WHO PAYS RENT
You can protect your boiler by installing an inline filter on the pipework.
These filters use potent magnets to trap any debris or small particles of dirt and metal, which stops them from causing any unnecessary damages to the boiler, such as leaks.
High-quality boiler installers strive to build the cost of installing your filter into your initial quote when fitting them throughout the UK.
SHORT PERIOD STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
if you allow students to stay in your home for temporary periods of time for whatever reason and they pay you for things such as food.
Then, even though they may not be paying rent specifically, you still take on the responsibilities of a landlord and must arrange for annual gas safety checks.
EMPTY PROPERTY OWNERS
Landlords that own an empty property have a free pass for gas safety while the property is unoccupied.
That being said, landlords must arrange for a gas safety check before any new tenants move in to make sure the place is safe to live in.
RENTED FLAT ABOVE A SHOP
Even if it is above a shop, a flat is still a domestic area, and as such, landlords must arrange an annual gas safety check for it.
HOW OFTEN DO I NEED TO ARRANGE A GAS SAFETY CHECK?
In summary, if you are classified as a landlord and have tenants paying you to live on a property you own, then you need to arrange for a gas safety check by gas safe engineers at least once a year.
The actual date you have to adhere to depends on whenever you had the last gas safety check. If you have a regular date that is convenient for you to have the check done, such as during summer for student accommodation, then so long as you have it carried out within 10-12 months from the last check, the actual deadline won’t change.
Should a landlord have a gas safety check before or after that 10-12 month period, then a new date will be set, and they will need to perform another check within 10-12 months of that date.
WHAT HAPPENS IF SAFETY ISSUES ARE IDENTIFIED?
Landlords who arrange a gas safety check and find that one or multiple appliances or any pipework on the premises is defective or needs repair in some way should have a gas safe engineer fix the issue as soon as possible.
If the issue can’t be fixed immediately, it is up to the landlord to make sure the appliance in question is not used until it is repaired.
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