UK landlords with gas appliances and fittings – including central heating, boilers and flues – must conduct an annual safety check conducted by a Gas Safe engineer. If you are unsure whether the Gas Safety Regulations Act (1998) applies to you, you can find out on the government’s Health And Safety Executive (HSE) website.

If you are a landlord however, it is very likely that these laws do apply to you. You must keep record of the safety check for two years and supply new tenants with a copy of the certificate before they move in and within 28 days of completing a new check.

Your legal duties as a landlord cover any gas appliances that you own and provide for the use the tenants of your property. If the tenant supplies their own gas appliances, then you will be responsible for its installation parts and pipework, but not the appliance itself.

For full guidance refer to regulation 36(3) of the HSE Approved Code of Practice, on the duties of landlords with respect to safety checks.

The HSE regulations make a distinction between gas safety checks and the related servicing and maintenance activities that may need to be undertaken. As a landlord you have the responsibility of ensuring all appliances (specifically boilers), as well as pipes and flues, are operating safely at all times.

Our recommendation is that maintenance be performed every 12 months to ensure proper functioning of the appliances.

For full guidance refer to regulation 36(2) of the HSE Approved Code of Practice, on the duties of landlords with respect to maintaining pipes, flues and appliances.

Yes! It is perfectly acceptable to keep the records of your gas inspection electronically – and many landlords find it far more convenient.

As long as you can produce a hard copy when needed (such as when new tenants are moving in), you keep it safe (i.e. you don’t delete if from your electronic records) and it uniquely identifies the engineer (e.g. with a signature), having only an electronic copy is absolutely fine. If sharing an electronic copy with your tenants, be sure they first have the means to access it.