Gas Safety

If you rent a property or room, your landlord has legal responsibilities when it comes to gas safety. Landlords’ duties apply to a wide range of accommodation including:

• rooms let in bed-sit accommodation, private households, bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels
• rented holiday accommodation such as chalets, cottages, flats, caravans and narrow boats on inland waterways
• residential premises.
  Landlords have specific duties for gas safety and these include having gas pipework, appliances and

  chimneys/flues in the property checked for safety by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

  Requirements

  Even if a property is only rented for a short time, there are three specific duties for landlords to keep their tenants safe.

• Maintenance: pipework, appliances and flues must be maintained in a safe condition. Gas appliances should be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If these are not available it is recommended that they are serviced every 12 months unless advised otherwise by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Landlords will need to be able to show, if asked, that regular maintenance of the flues and appliances and any necessary repairs have been undertaken.
• Gas safety checks: A 12 monthly gas safety check must be carried out on every gas appliance/flue in your rental property, even if you only rent out one or two rooms in your home. A gas safety check will make sure gas fittings and appliances are safe to use and must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
• Record: a record of the gas safety check must be provided to tenants within 28 days of the check being completed or to new tenants before they move in. If a property or room is hired out for less than 28 days at a time, it is also permissible to display a copy of the current Landlords Gas Safety Record in a prominent position within the property so a copy does not need to be given to every new occupier. Landlords must keep copies of the record for two years.

  Gas Safety Record

  If you do not have a copy of the current record for your property, you are entitled to ask your landlord for a copy. If your landlord refuses, you can complain to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) using this form: https://extranet.hse.gov.uk/lfserver/external/lgsr1.

  Further Guidance

  For further information on what a gas safety check involves visit: www.gassaferegister.co.uk/safetycheck For additional guidance on landlords responsibilities visit: www.HSE.gov.uk/gas/landlords/index.htm

What is the problem?

Some properties, mainly flats and apartments, have been built with appliance flue systems which cannot be inspected because they are hidden behind walls or ceilings. This makes it difficult to identify any safety concerns with the flue system and could be dangerous. It affects a type of flue system that is termed ‘room- sealed fanned draught’ and does not apply to ‘open flues’ such as brick chimneys serving gas fires.

Jargon buster

• Flue system: the pipe (or pipes) that take fumes away from the gas appliance and also provides fresh air for the gas to burn correctly.
• Void: a space above the ceiling or behind a wall where the flue is located.
• Room-sealed fanned draught appliance: is one which is sealed from the room in which it is located. The flue

  system takes fumes away from the appliance and also provides fresh air for the gas to burn correctly.

Gas Safe registered engineers need to be able to see the flue system as part of essential safety checks whenever the appliance is worked on. A flue system in poor condition, combined with an appliance that is not working properly, could put you and your family in danger from carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause death or serious injury.

If your appliance is situated on an outside wall, it is unlikely you have the type of flue system that is affected. Alternatively, if your engineer can see all of the flue system, you will not need to take any further action in relation to this matter.

What is the background?

In October 2008, following a fatal carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning incident, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in Great Britain issued a Safety Alert concerning certain gas appliance flues in voids. It explained that if appropriate action was not taken, there was a risk of further serious incidents occurring if there was a defect in a concealed flue system. In December 2010, following a period of review and consultation by industry, revised guidance was published. Subsequently the HSE in GB and the HSE in Northern Ireland (HSENI) took the decision to issue an updated Safety Notice.

The Safety Notice has revised guidance which includes advice and requirements for Gas Safe registered businesses, builders and home warranty providers. It aims to help them bring the safety concern to the attention of affected residents, landlords and managing agents so that suspect installations can be addressed.

What properties are affected?

Visit: www.gassaferegister.co.uk  for information.

Did you know?

Although the HSE Safety Notices apply to GB and NI, similar requirements apply in the Isle of Man and Guernsey.

In properties where a gas appliance is located away from external walls, its flue system is more likely to run through the ceiling or wall void or be boxed-in. These situations are more likely, but not exclusively, to be encountered in flats and apartments built since about 2000.

If you live in rented accommodation, your landlord has legal responsibilities when it comes to gas safety.

Landlords have specific duties for gas safety and these include having gas pipework, appliances and chimneys/flues checked for safety by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The responsibilities are laid out in the relevant gas safety legislation, such as the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 in Great Britain.

Requirements

There are three specific duties for landlords to keep their tenants safe.

Annual gas safety checks

To make sure that any gas appliances and flue provided for tenants are safe for continued use, landlords must arrange for them to be checked for safety every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Record

A record of this annual gas safety check will include specific information. A copy of the gas safety record must be provided to an existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed or to new tenants before they move in. Landlords must keep copies of the record for two years.

Maintenance

Maintenance arrangements should normally involve a series of regular inspections and any necessary repairs. Landlords must ensure that gas pipework is maintained in a safe condition. Gas appliances and flues provided for the tenants use must also be maintained in a safe condition. Gas appliances and flues should be serviced in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions but if these are not available, annual servicing is recommended unless advised otherwise by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

There are no formal requirements for landlords to keep maintenance records. However, landlords will need to be able to show, if asked, that regular maintenance of the flues and appliances and any necessary repairs have been undertaken. Landlords do not have to provide maintenance records for tenants.

These duties do not extend to appliances in wholly non-residential buildings or parts of a building. For example, if you live in a rented flat over commercial premises, landlords’ duties will apply to the gas appliances, pipework and chimneys/flues serving the flat. Landlords’ duties will not apply to gas appliances, pipework, or chimneys/flues used exclusively in the non-residential commercial premises below.

Landlords do not have an obligation to have any checks carried out on gas appliances owned by their tenant(s). Tenants are responsible for the maintenance and safety of their own gas appliances. Gas Safe Register recommends that tenants should have their own gas appliances serviced and checked for safety annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

What should I do to make sure my home is safe?

Access

Landlords need to ensure that they take reasonable steps to gain access to their properties in order to meet their legal responsibilities.

If you are a tenant you should allow the Gas Safe registered engineer appointed by your landlord access to your property to carry out maintenance or safety checks on appliances and/or chimneys/flues that the landlord provides for your use. Remember to ask to see the engineer’s Gas Safe Register ID card to confirm they are registered and able to carry out the necessary work.

www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk 0800 408 5500

Gas safety legislation in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Guernsey set out what is defined as gas ‘work’. Generally the definition of “work in relation to gas fitting” lists specific activities which are:

• maintaining, servicing, permanently adjusting, disconnecting, repairing, altering or renewing the fitting or purging it of air or gas;
• where the fitting is not readily movable, changing its position;
• removing the fitting.

  These activities can only be undertaken by a competent Gas Safe registered engineer.

  What gas work can I do myself?

  The definition of gas ‘work’ is quite wide ranging but you can perform the tasks set out in the user’s instructions, (provided by the appliance manufacturer) that are intended for the user to carry out. This would not be a breach of the law.

  The law allows you to replace or adjust any component or control that is designed to be operated, or replaced by the gas consumer e.g. a cooker tap control knob. However you should not do anything that involves disturbing the gas carrying components (such as the gas supply pipe) or that could affect the combustion process (such as removing the combustion case of an appliance – see Can I take the case off my gas appliance? below).

  What gas work can be undertaken by other tradespersons?

  If the work required only involves the replacement of a water carrying component e.g. a pump or central heating control valve, housed within the boiler’s decorative casing, the work could be undertaken by another competent tradesperson e.g. plumber/electrician. Providing the work could be undertaken without having to break a combustion chamber seal (see Can I take the case off my gas appliance? below), or disturbing any gas carrying component, it would not need to be undertaken by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

  However, many Gas Safe registered engineers will also have the necessary competence required to determine and rectify plumbing and electrical faults on gas appliances.

  It is not acceptable for someone who is not Gas Safe registered to fit a gas appliance or do other gas work and then have the work checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Both parties would be breaking the law.

  Can I take the case off my gas appliance?

  It depends on whether the case is purely decorative or whether it is an integral part of the appliance.

  Decorative casing: These cases can usually be removed by the consumer e.g. can be lifted off or are hinged panels and do not need to be unscrewed. A decorative case can be removed safely by the consumer or anybody else remembering to follow any warning labels and making sure you have isolated any electrical parts. However, if you are in any doubt, always use a Gas Safe registered engineer.

  Integral casing: Many appliances have cases which form a seal around the gas carrying components e.g. burner, combustion chamber, etc as well as being decorative. If removing the case involves undoing a number of screws, this normally means it is a functional case and it should not be removed by the consumer or a person who is not Gas Safe registered.

  www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk 0800 408 5500