Is your Landlord taking your boiler safety seriously?

May 4, 2010 / by Barry Reynolds

Landlords have duties under the Gas Safety Regulations 1998 to arrange maintenance by a Gas Safe Registered engineer for all pipe work, appliances and flues, which they own and have provided for the tenants use.

They must arrange for an annual gas safety check to be carried out every 12 months by a Gas Safe Registered engineer and supply you with a Gas Safety certificate (pictured). They must keep a record of the safety checks for 2 years and issue a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed and issue a copy to any new tenants before they move in.

Failure to comply with this requirement carries a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six months’ imprisonment.

According to the law, landlords are required to ensure the following:

1. All work relating to the repair, service or installation of gas appliances must be carried out by a GAS SAFE registered engineer.
2. No open flue gas appliance is located in the same room where people are sleeping, a bathroom or a shower room.
3. Both mobile and fixed gas appliances in the property must be kept in a safe working condition and inspected on an annual basis by a GAS SAFE registered engineer.
4. All work carried out to any gas appliance within the property must be approved by a set of safety tests conducted by a GAS SAFE approved engineer.
5. The tenants living in the property must have unrestricted access to all documentation relating to the gas appliances.
6. The dates of safety inspections must be kept in a clear set of records, which will also include any defects identified and work carried out. Access should be given to the tenants to these records within 28 days of the safety inspection or prior to new tenants moving into the property.

Landlords have no choice but to ensure that all domestic boilers on the premise are checked and services annually. Large landlords, Local Authorities and Housing Associations may find this statutory obligation to cause major concern due to the difficulty of the gas engineer gaining access to the boiler.

Landlords, who are obliged to comply with the law, may have to resort to obtaining an entry warrant if the tenant does not co-operate. This can incur additional cost of approximately £500 per dwelling for police attendance and making good.