Gas Safety Certificates (Cp12)

Gas safety in rental property

A landlord must hold a valid gas safety certificate for each of their rental properties that have any installed gas appliances. The gas safety certificate is also known as a CP12 which is the code for the Gas Safe form used to record the inspection. The landlord is subject to the provisions of the Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Act 1988 which states that the landlord is responsible for having gas pipe work and gas appliances certified as being in safe working condition.  The CP12 is produced for each rental property and is not required for each separate gas appliance.

Gas Safe Register

Landlords must make sure the gas safety inspection process is carried out at least once a year. The inspection must be carried out by by a certified Gas Safe Register registered trades person.  A gas safety inspection usually takes no more than a couple of hours dependent of the number of appliance. Typically the Gas Safe registered plumbing engineer will charge landlords either by gas appliance or time.

Gas Safety Certificate Costs

Costs for Gas Safety Certificates have increased significantly over recent years. Plumbers are in short supply and plumbing work costs are forever increasing. Expect a registered Gas Safe plumbing engineer to charge upwards of £60 for a basic gas boiler and gas oven check and certification.  For their money a landlord will be issued with a gas safety certificate which remains valid for twelve months.

As well as retaining a copy of the gas safety certificate for their own records, landlords should also make sure the tenant is given a copy. The gas engineer will keep another copy of the certificate for their own records.

Legally the landlord is obliged to produce the gas safety certificate to any new tenant on the granting of a tenancy, as well as presenting a copy of future gas safety certificates within 28 days of each inspection.

Any gas safety certificate must then be kept on record by a landlord for a minimum period of two years from the date of issue.

The gas safety certificate must contain the following information

• The date of the gas safety check
• The address of the gas appliance installation
• The name and address of the landlord or his agent
• A description of the location of each gas appliance checked for the landlord
• Any remedial action taken
• Confirmation that the gas safety check complies with the rules laid down in the Gas Safety Regulations
• Name and signature of the individual who carried out the gas safety check and their company’s registration number with the health and safety executive
• confirmation that the safety check has included an examination of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of 
regulation 26(9) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

Those landlords who fail to comply with Gas Safety regulations can be held criminally liable and any landlords insurance policy is likely to be invalidated.

Can a landlord store their CP 12 online?

Yes, as long as the electronic copy:

• can be reproduced in hard copy format when required (eg for the tenant, HSE, or housing department)
• is secure from loss and interference
• uniquely identifies the Gas Safe registered engineer who did the safety check, eg
  an electronic signature
• a scanned signature
• a Gas Safe registered engineer license number
  the name of the engineer

You can also email your tenants direct with a copy of the CP 12 if this is more convenient.  Equally, leaving a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate at the property pinned up is also acceptable.  The tenant does have the right to be presented with an individual paper copy on request.

NEW Landlords Gas Safety Certificate Update

Landlords should be aware that from 6th April 2018 an amendment to the existing Gas Safety Regulations as set out in The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 201( GSIUR).

This represents a tweak to the existing gas safety legislation as a posed to a wholesale change giving landlords a welcome amount of flexibility over when safety checks are carried out.

From the 6th April 2018 annual gas safety checks can be carried out 2 months before the due date whilst retaining the existing expiry date. The aim of these tweaks are to give landlords and agents a little bit more flexibility in complying with the legislation whilst not shortening the life span of the safety check period.

In addition to the changes in the timings of the checks a small change has been made to clarify the wording of Regulation 36 of GSIUR ithe legislation on requiring defects to be recorded on the safety checks.

How the courts view not having a CP 12 Gas Safety Certificate

Just to make landlords aware of how seriously the courts take the matter.  In 1999 a landlord was found guilty of manslaughter following a tragedy caused by non-compliance with the Gas Safety Regulations and each year landlords are faced with large fines for failing to keep up to date with the required inspections.

The recent case of a Derby landlord, Victoria Martingale, reinforces just how important a landlord gas safety certificate can be. The case of carbon monoxide poisoning ended up with deadly consequences, with tenant Stephen Newton found dead in a chair. ,

The case was unusual in that the tenant had reconnected a condemned gas boiler without the landlord’s knowledge, however she was still found responsible for not having maintained her annual gas safety checks. The tenant died from CO2 poisoning and the landlord received a 16 month suspended sentence, 200 hours community service and a £4000 fine.

The judge said “This was an avoidable tragedy and as an amateur landlord she had shut her eyes to her responsibility.”

I hope this underlines the importance keeping the Gas Safety Certification up to date.

Users of our free landlord software, users can set reminders for tasks such as Gas Safety Certificates.

Simply add it as a TASK,  then set the frequency of the email REMINDERS.

They can also upload a copy of the CP12 to their Property Manager account and store the details online.

General safety in a rental property

Electric safety in a rental property

Furniture regulations in a rental property

Fire safety in a rental property

Carbon monoxide safety in a rental property

Boiler Insurance Cover – is it worth it?

For more information read the Health and Safety Executive question and answers page for landlords and gas safety.