What is actually checked on a gas safety inspection,
and what the record shows

A landlord gas safety inspection checks every gas appliance the landlord provides, the flues that serve them, the visible pipework and the ventilation, and records whether each one is safe to use. It is a safety check and a legal record, not a service, so nothing is cleaned or adjusted unless we find a fault and you ask us to put it right. The result is a Gas Safety Record (still called a CP12 by most people, after the old CORGI form), which we issue digitally the same day.

What the law
asks for

The duty comes from regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. A landlord has to have each gas appliance and flue they provide checked for safety every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, keep the record for two years, give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and give new tenants a copy before they move in. Since 2018 the regulations have also let you have the inspection done in the two months before the current record runs out and keep the original renewal date, in the same way an MOT works, so renewing early does not shorten your year. That was the case when last checked for this article and may be subject to change.

Appliances the tenant owns, and flues that serve only those appliances, are the tenant's responsibility and are not part of the landlord's check, although the pipework feeding them still is.

What we check at
each appliance

At the boiler we check the gas rate or operating pressure against what the manufacturer says it should be, the flue for its condition, its route and its termination, the combustion products with a flue gas analyser where the boiler is a room sealed type, the ventilation, the safety devices and the general condition of the case, the seals and the pipework around it. A boiler that is running with the wrong pressure or the wrong flue gas readings is not necessarily dangerous on the day, but it is the kind of thing that becomes dangerous, so it goes on the record either way.

At a hob or a cooker we check the burner pressure and the flame picture, the flame supervision devices where they are fitted, the condition of the hose or the pipe and, on a free-standing cooker, that the stability chain is there so the appliance cannot tip when the oven door is used as a step by a small child, which happens more often than anyone would like.

At a gas fire the checks take longest, because the flue has to be proven. We do a spillage test to confirm the products of combustion are going up the chimney and not into the room, check the closure plate, the ventilation and the condition of the fire itself, and we treat an open flued fire with real respect, because a blocked chimney on a gas fire is one of the commoner ways carbon monoxide gets into a living room.

Across the property we visually inspect the pipework we can see, confirm the emergency control valve at the meter is accessible and works, and carry out a tightness test at the meter to confirm no gas is escaping anywhere in the installation. We also check that a carbon monoxide alarm is fitted where the regulations for rented homes in England now expect one and that it works when tested, which is a separate duty from the gas check but one we would rather you did not fall foul of.

What the
record shows

The Gas Safety Record lists the landlord and the property, every appliance checked with its location, make and type, the results of each check, any defect found and what was done about it, the date, and the engineer's name and Gas Safe registration number, which the tenant can verify at https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk. Ours is a digital record, sent the same day, so it can be forwarded to the tenant and filed without waiting for the post.

When something fails

An inspection sometimes finds something, which is the point of it. A defect is classed as Immediately Dangerous, At Risk or Not to Current Standards, following the industry's unsafe situations procedure. Immediately Dangerous means we have to make the appliance safe before we leave, which normally means disconnecting it with your permission and labelling it. At Risk means we advise it is turned off until it is put right. Not to Current Standards is recorded so you know about it, and the appliance can stay in use. In each case the record says what was found, and any repair is quoted separately for you to decide on.

For homeowners

There is no legal requirement for a homeowner to have a gas safety certificate, and most of our owner occupiers get the same checks done as part of an annual boiler service instead. People do ask for one when they are selling a house, when a buyer's solicitor asks, or because an insurer expects the gas appliances to have been checked, and we are happy to do it.

The short version

A landlord gas safety inspection checks the appliances the landlord provides, their flues, the visible pipework, the ventilation and the gas tightness of the installation, and records the result on a Gas Safety Record. It is required every 12 months under regulation 36, can be done up to two months early without losing the date, has to be given to tenants within 28 days, and it is a check, not a service. If something fails, the record says so, and the repair is a separate decision.

Quick answers