Tenants Make sure your landlord is complying with the law

Your landlord has specific legal responsibilities to tenants when it comes to gas safety. Even if a property is only rented for a short time, like holiday accommodation, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations require your landlord to:

• Maintain pipework, appliances and flues provided for your use in a safe condition.
• Carry out a 12 monthly gas safety check on each gas appliance/flue.  A gas safety check will make sure gas fittings and appliances are safe to use.
• Provide you with a record of the annual gas safety check within 28 days of the check being completed or if you’re a new tenant before you move in. If a property or room is hired out for less than 28 days at a time, it is also permissible for your landlord to display a copy of the current Landlords Gas Safety Record in a prominent position within the property.

For more information on what to expect aas a tenant from your landlord if you rent a room or holiday accommodation for a short period of time download our short term lets factsheet.

What is a gas safety check?

Faulty gas appliances and fittings and blocked flues can put you at risk of gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. A gas safety check will make sure gas fittings and appliances are safe to use. These checks include;

• Checking the flue or chimney to make sure the products of combustion (fumes) are being safely removed to outside.
• Checking there is an adequate supply of fresh air so the gas burns properly.
• Checking the appliance is burning the gas properly.
• Checking all safety devices are working properly and shutting the appliance off if a fault occurs.

If a Gas Safe registered engineer visits you to safety check your appliances, it is in the interests of your safety to let them into the property. Always ask to see their Gas Safe Register ID card before letting them in.

What is a gas safety record?

If you the tenant are renting a property from a private landlord, from the council, a housing association or any other landlord, ask for a copy of the gas safety record.

When a Gas Safe registered engineer does a gas safety check in your home, using a form they will write down details of the checks that they carried out. This form is a gas safety record. It will list each of the appliances and other gas fittings they checked.

Your landlord must give you a record of the annual gas safety check within 28 days of the check being completed or if you’re a new tenant before you move in.

What if I own the gas appliances in my rented property?

If you the tenant own the gas appliances in your rented property, your landlord is not responsible for getting them safety checked, you are. But, your landlord may still be responsible for the maintenance of the gas pipe work and any chimney or flue that serves your appliances. In which case, you and your landlord should arrange the gas safety check together.

 

What to do if you think your landlord isn’t gas safe

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) via the HSE website. Failure to follow gas safety requirements is a criminal offence and the HSE can issue a formal caution and may prosecute your landlord.

Gas emergencies in a rented property

Make sure you know what to do in a gas emergency. Knowing the signs of danger andcarbon monoxide poisoning could save your life.

Ask your landlord to show you how to turn off the gas supply if there is a gas leak. If you smell gas, call the 24 hour emergency gas service for your area:

• Great Britain: 0800 111 999

• Guernsey: 01481 749000

• Isle of Man: 01624 644 444

• Northern Ireland: 0800 002 001