Gas Safety Week 2021: Must know information for landlords 13 Sep 2021

Gas Safety Week runs from 13th – 19th September in the UK.

“What’s Gas Safety Week?” we hear you ask. It’s a whole week dedicated to informing people of the importance of checking your gas appliances. We’ve put together a guide to help self-managing landlords navigate their way into safer property management. 

Obligations of a landlord

As a landlord, you will need to make sure that you are following the guidelines on gas safety, to keep not only your tenants, but your property safe too. 

You must do the following 3 things:

1. Maintain any gas appliances in or used by your rented property. 
2. Have any appliances and flues checked by a registered gas safety engineer 
3. Keep a record of any/ all checks made each year. 

When do I need to arrange checks and how often?

You will need to make arrangements for appliances to be checked which can be done on any date providing it does not exceed 12 months from the last check. Each gas appliance must be checked separately and they must be carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer. 

You will need to keep a record of the checks somewhere safe in case you need them for future reference. 

Who is allowed to perform the checks?

As above, any checks made must be carried out by a registered gas safety engineer. It is the Landlord’s responsibility to make sure the engineer is legitimate, and is able to carry out the work. 

What will be inspected?

Engineers generally check three main things:

• The safety of the appliance, making sure there are no faults or damage which could be a hazard. 
• The physical safety of the appliance (is the boiler hanging off the wall etc) 
• The room is suitable for the appliance (there is enough airflow and or ventilation) 

What appliances need checking?

Any gas appliance or flue installed or used by the property needs to be checked for damage, faults or potential hazards. Also any appliance or flue that the rental property uses even if that appliance is not located inside the property. An example of this is a boiler used for central heating installed outside of the dwelling. 

You must maintain them to the manufacturer’s instructions, or you will need to follow a gas safety engineer’s advice if the instructions from the manufacturer are not available.

Why is it so important?

Getting the appliances checked on a regular basis is critical as it could prevent some severe consequences.

If left unchecked you could be risking the following:

• Fires – Gas appliances burn gas to work, so any damage or fault with them could result in leaked gas. If this were to be ignited it could do a lot of damage. 
• Gas Leaks – Not only could gas leaks result in fires, it could also cause your tenants to become ill. Some symptoms of gas poisoning are sickness, headaches, weakness could mean that there is a gas leak somewhere. 
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – When gas is burns, it releases carbon monoxide. Damaged or faulty flues can result in leaking CO into a room, if this isn’t a well ventilated room then this could be fatal to your tenants. 

Hopefully this helps to guide you through gas safety week 2021, and it prompts you to get on the phone and book your gas safety certificate if you haven’t already done so! For more information on gas safety week take a look at the gas safe register website here.