Landlords of residential property in the UK have specific legal duties under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. In short: keep the gas pipework, appliances and flues you provide in a safe condition, have each appliance and flue safety checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer within 12 months of installation and then at intervals of no more than 12 months, keep a record of every check, and give tenants a copy.
The duties sit with the landlord and cannot be passed to tenants through the tenancy agreement, even under a full repairing and insuring lease. Where a managing or letting agent has taken on the work by contract, the same duties apply to the agent, and HSE advises landlords to ask for copies of the records.
Who counts as a landlord
For gas safety purposes, a landlord is anyone letting residential property under a lease of less than seven years or under a licence. HSE lists council and housing association homes, private lets, bedsits, bed and breakfasts, hotels and rented holiday accommodation such as chalets, caravans and narrow boats. Accommodation provided with a job can also carry the duties as an implied tenancy.
The annual safety check and the two month window
Each appliance and flue must be checked within 12 months of the previous check. Since a 2018 amendment, regulation 36A lets you have the check done up to two months before the deadline and still treat it as having been done on the deadline date, so you do not lose time on the cycle. This removes the old incentive to leave checks until the last week.
The same regulation also allows a one-off check in the two months after the deadline, but only once per appliance or flue and only to bring its check date into line with another appliance in the same property. It is a tool for aligning dates, not a grace period.
Before a property is re-let, HSE expects the landlord to make sure the appliances and flues are safe and that there is a current safety check record in place.
What the record must contain
Regulation 36 sets out what the gas safety record must show. Your engineer's paperwork should include:
- The date of the check and the address of the property
- The name and address of the landlord or their agent
- A description and the location of each appliance or flue checked
- Any safety defect found and any remedial action taken
- Confirmation that the check covered the matters the regulations require
- The name, signature and registration number of the engineer
Keeping records and giving tenants copies
- Keep each record until two further checks have been made (in practice, at least two years)
- Give existing tenants a copy within 28 days of the check
- Give new tenants a copy of the latest record before they move in
- For stays of 28 days or less, such as holiday lets, displaying the record prominently in the property is enough
- Electronic copies are acceptable if the tenant agrees and can access them, but provide a paper copy on request
When a tenant will not give access
You must not force entry. HSE says a landlord has to show they took all reasonable steps to comply, and recommends leaving a notice after a missed visit with your contact details, writing to explain that the check is a legal requirement for the tenant's own safety, offering a chance to book an appointment, and repeating these attempts as needed. Keep a record of every attempt and all correspondence, because inspectors will look for it. Access arrangements belong in the tenancy agreement from the start.
Tenant owned appliances
Landlords are not responsible for appliances a tenant owns, or a flue that serves only the tenant's appliance, but remain responsible for the installation pipework. HSE recommends including every flue connected to a gas appliance in your check, and reminding tenants to have their own appliances serviced.
Carbon monoxide alarms in England
Since 1 October 2022, private landlords in England must fit a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, such as a gas boiler or a wood burning stove. Gas cookers are excluded. Bathrooms count as living accommodation. Alarms must be checked as working on the first day of a new tenancy and repaired or replaced once reported faulty. Local councils enforce these rules and can fine a landlord up to £5,000 for failing to comply with a remedial notice.
Making it run on time across a portfolio
For one flat, a diary reminder may be enough. For a landlord or agent with properties across London, Liverpool, Manchester or Cheshire, the risk is drift: check dates scattered across the year, tenant copies not sent within 28 days, access failures with no paper trail and remedial work that never gets closed. A single register of every appliance, its last check date, the record, the date the tenant copy was issued and any outstanding actions makes the position clear at a glance.
How Apex helps
We build annual gas safety checks into a planned preventative maintenance schedule, using the two month window to keep dates aligned, and arrange the checks and any remedial work through Gas Safe registered engineers. Records, tenant issue dates and access attempts are kept with your other statutory documents under fire safety and compliance. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the current HSE guidance for your own properties.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk, Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36
- legislation.gov.uk, Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36A
- HSE, Gas safety: landlords and letting agents
- HSE, Dealing with tenants
- GOV.UK, Private renting: your landlord's safety responsibilities
- GOV.UK, Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations: Q&A booklet for landlords and tenants