Gas Safety Certificate (CP12): a guide for landlords

The Health and Safety Executive explains that, for domestic gas, a landlord is anyone who rents out a property they own under a lease shorter than seven years, or under a licence. The duties cover a wide range of let accommodation, including private lets, rooms in bedsits, bed and breakfast accommodation, and rented holiday accommodation such as cottages, chalets and caravans.

Using a letting or managing agent does not remove the duty. HSE's landlord guidance is clear that the landlord retains overall responsibility for compliance, and that the management contract should say who arranges the checks and keeps the records. The same applies where a property is sub-let: the original landlord may retain duties that overlap with those of the person sub-letting.

HSE sets out four main landlord duties:

• Keep gas fittings and flues maintained in a safe condition. Appliances should be serviced in line with the manufacturer's instructions; where none are available, HSE recommends annual servicing unless a Gas Safe registered engineer advises otherwise.
• Have an annual safety check carried out on each gas appliance and flue you provide for the tenant's use.
• Keep the record of each gas safety check until two further checks have been carried out — which can be longer than two years.
• Give a copy of the latest record to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, or to a new tenant before they move in.

HSE also warns against assuming that a service and a safety check are the same thing: an annual service inspection does not automatically meet the safety check requirement, and a safety check on its own is not necessarily enough to count as effective maintenance.

Before a new tenancy starts

Before a new lease begins, the checks must have been carried out within the previous 12 months — unless the appliances have been installed for less than 12 months, in which case they should be checked within 12 months of installation.

The check is annual. Since the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, you may have the check carried out in the two calendar months before the existing deadline date — roughly months 10 to 12 of the annual cycle — and still keep the original deadline date, as if the check had happened exactly 12 months after the last one. That means an early check does not shorten your next deadline. Using the flexibility is optional.

There is a record-keeping condition attached: HSE says that if you want to rely on that flexibility, you need to be able to show you carried out the checks within the required timescales, which is why records must be kept until two further checks have been done.

HSE lists the minimum contents of a gas safety check record:

• a description and the location of each appliance or flue checked
• the name, registration number and signature of the engineer who carried out the check
• the date of the check
• the address of the property
• the name and address of the landlord (or their agent, where appropriate)
• any safety-related defect found, and any remedial action taken
• confirmation that the check covered the matters in regulation 26(9)(a) to (d) of the 1998 Regulations

One record normally covers all the items checked — you do not need a separate record per appliance. The engineer should only issue the record once all the required checks are complete.

Checking the engineer

The work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. HSE's guidance is to ask for their Gas Safe ID card, which shows their photograph, business registration number, personal licence number and the card's expiry date, with the categories of gas work they are qualified for on the reverse. Registration can also be confirmed with Gas Safe Register.

Records can be kept electronically, provided the copy can be reproduced on paper when needed, is secure from loss and interference, and uniquely identifies the engineer who did the check — for example by electronic or scanned signature, licence number or name.

You can send a tenant an electronic copy if they are happy to receive it that way and can access it, but you must give them a paper copy if they ask. Regulation 36 of the 1998 Regulations also requires records to be kept for at least two years; the "two further checks" rule above is the practical retention period to work to.

For occupancies of less than 28 days, such as holiday lets and hotels, HSE says a legible copy of the record should be displayed prominently in the premises instead.

The safety check and maintenance duties apply to gas appliances and flues installed in the let premises, fixed or portable — including LPG cabinet heaters. Appliances owned by the tenant, and flues connected solely to a tenant's own appliance, are not covered. Appliances that serve the let accommodation but sit elsewhere, such as a central heating boiler in a communal area, are covered.

The record will show the defect and any remedial action taken. Any safety defect must be put right by a Gas Safe registered engineer before the equipment is used again. HSE is explicit that it is an offence to use, or allow the use of, a gas appliance you know to be unsafe, and that an appliance isolated or disconnected for safety reasons must not be reconnected until the fault is fixed. Keeping copies of the remedial work alongside the certificate is sensible.

The Regulations give you no power to force entry, and your tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance and safety work. Where a tenant refuses, HSE expects you to show you took all reasonable steps, and recommends keeping a record of all correspondence, leaving a notice that an attempt was made with your contact details, writing to explain that the check is a legal requirement for the tenant's own safety, and giving the tenant the chance to arrange their own appointment. Inspectors look for repeated attempts; whether the steps taken were reasonable would ultimately be for a court to decide.

HSE's landlord leaflet states that failing to maintain tenants' gas appliances risks prosecution, with a penalty on summary conviction of imprisonment or a fine of up to £20,000, or both, for each offence — and that if the case goes to the Crown Court the maximum penalty may be imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 extend to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is covered by its own legislation — the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 — with guidance published by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland rather than HSE. The duties are similar in shape, but if your property is in Northern Ireland, work from the HSENI guidance.

Related rules diverge more sharply. Carbon monoxide alarm requirements, for example, are set separately in each nation: in England they come from the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 as amended in 2022, and the GOV.UK guidance for that applies to England only. Do not assume a rule you read about for one nation applies across the UK — check the guidance for the nation your property is in.

• Record the date of the last check for every property with gas, and treat the anniversary as the deadline.
• Where you are using the regulation 36A flexibility, consider booking the check during the two calendar months before the existing deadline date, rather than leaving it until the deadline.
• Store the certificate against the property as soon as it arrives, and note the date you sent the tenant their copy.
• Keep certificates until two further checks have been done, not just two years.
• Keep evidence of access attempts and any remedial work with the certificate.

Gas is one of several areas with its own cycle — our UK landlord compliance checklist covers the rest.

MyRentals360 is property management software for UK landlords. For gas safety, it gives you somewhere to record the certificate against the property with its expiry date, upload the certificate itself to private document storage, and see amber warnings as the date approaches and red once it has passed — across every property at once rather than one folder at a time.

It is a record-keeping and reminder tool. It does not carry out inspections, issue certificates, make you compliant or give legal advice — the duties above remain yours, and the check must still be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

• Health and Safety Executive — Landlords: a guide to landlords' duties (INDG285)
• Health and Safety Executive — Gas safety — landlords and letting agents
• Health and Safety Executive — Gas safety check records and what to keep
• Health and Safety Executive — Maintenance — gas appliances and flues
• legislation.gov.uk — Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
• Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland — Landlord duties in relation to gas
• GOV.UK — Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants