Landlords Gas Safety Record

Introduction

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (GSIUR), place duties on landlords and their managing agents in “relevant premises” in the private and public sectors, to ensure that all gas installation pipework, gas appliances and flue systems owned by them, are maintained in a safe condition. This duty was placed on landlords/managing agents to protect tenants from suffering, due to faulty and poorly maintained gas appliances.

Relevant premises include residential premises provided for rent by local authorities, housing associations, private sector landlords, housing co-operatives, hostels, colleges and universities. Rooms let in bed-sit accommodation, private households, including bed and breakfast accommodation, rented holiday accommodation such as chalets, cottages and flats. caravans and narrow boats on inland waterways are also covered under the regulations.

Note: The list of relavent premisis is actually quite extensive and landlords may need to seek further advice to ensure that they comply with the regulations.

The duties of the landlord extend to any flue or chimney, which serves any relevant gas fitting, which the tenant would not be entitled to remove from the premises once they vacate.

Note: Pipework and appliances are defined as relevant gas fittings.

The duties of the landlord also extend to appliances. e.g. central heating boilers, where the appliance is located remotely from residential areas but provides heat to the residential areas of the property. This applies even though the tenant may not have access to the appliance or flue. Areas such as bars, restaurants or sitting rooms in a hotel would also be covered if these were served by, for example, a gas fire for the residences benefit.

The duties of the landlord do not extend to appliances owned by the tenant. However, landlords or their agents have a Duty of Care under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (HSWA) to maintain a flue system serving a gas appliance owned by the tenant. This places an obligation on the landlord to ensure that any chimney of flue that serves a tenants own appliance is maintained to effectively remove products of combustion safely. This might mean implementing a programme of routine maintenance.

Note: Gas appliances left in the property by the outgoing tenant (e.g. gas fires and cabinet heaters), after the tenancy agreement has finished, would become relevant gas fittings as defined by the GSIUR if left for a new tenant to use and will need to be maintained and safety checked.

In order to comply with the Regulations, landlords/managing agents need to ensure that installation pipework, appliance and where applicable, their flues, are checked for safety intervals of not more than 12 months.

Note: A newly installed appliance does not require a Landlords Gas Safety Record for the first 12 months following installation. However, it would be deemed good practice to include the appliance on any record that is issued during the first 12 months of installation, especially in the case of residential park homes, leisure accommodation vehicles and boats, which are hired out in the course of a business e.g. holiday homes.

In addition to keeping written records of these checks for two years, landlords/managing agents are also required to do the following:

• Provide a copy of the record to the tenant within 28 days of the check taking place
• Ensure that a copy of the last current Landlords Gas Safety Record is provided to a new tenant before the tenant occupies those premises.
• Note: Where premises are for short let, i.e. less than 28 days, a copy of the current record may instead be prominently displayed within the premises e.g. holiday homes.

Gas Operatives responsibilities

Gas operatives should ensure that they are aware of their own responsibilities. If a gas operative has reason to suspect that an appliance/installation is not safe to use (e.g. Immediately Dangerous (ID) or At Risk (AR)), the current CORGI Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure should be followed.

In addition, gas operatives should have sufficient equipment to undertake all necessary test (e.g. smoke pellets, smoke matches, leak detection fluid (LDF), etc).

Competency Requirements

When any work is carried out in relation to gas appliances and other gas fittings covered by this Part, gas operatives must be competent for each work activity that they wish to undertake. A valid certificate must have been issued under the National Accreditation Certification Scheme (ACS) for individual gas fitting operatives or the Gas Services S/NVQ that has been aligned with ACS.

Information required on the Gas Safety Check record

When instructed by a landlord/managing agent to carry out a landlords gas safety record check, gas operatives need to produce a record of the check which includes items 1 to 9 as follows. Failure to do so will prevent the landlord/managing agent from proving compliance with the GSIUR.

1. The date on which the pipework, appliance or flue was checked.
2. The address of the premises at which the pipework, appliance or flue was installed.
3. The name and address of the landlord (or, where appropriate, managing agent) of the premises at which the pipework, appliance or flue was installed.
4. Location details and a description of each appliance or flue checked.
5. Any defect identified.
6. Any remedial action taken.
7. Confirmation that the check undertaken complies with the requirements of the GSIUR, which state, where a person performs work on a gas appliance, he shall immediately thereafter examine:
   A. The effectiveness of any flue
   B. The supply of combustion air
   C. Its operating pressure or heat input or, where necessary, both
   D. Its operation so as to ensure its safe functioning
8. The name and signature of the individual carrying out the check.
9. The CORGI registration number of the individual, or their employer.

The CORGI Landlord/Home Owner Gas Safety Record Form, meets the requirements of the GSIUR.

CORGI provides these in pads of 50 forms, printed on no carbon required (NCR) paper with three copies:
WHITE copy Landlord/Managing Agents/Home Owners
GREEN copy Tenant
YELLOW copy Installer/Gas operative

A cover to the pad incorporates notes for satisfactory completion of the form The forms are numbered so that they can be easily traced and filed. Note: The CORGI Gas Safety Certificate from also meets the requirements of the GSIUR and can be used when undertaking landlord’s gas safety inspection

Advice on the completion of a Landlord/Home Owner Gas Safety Record

1. All details need to be accurately recorded by the gas operative carrying out the safety check.
2. Where there are more than four appliances at the address, an additional form should be used.
3. Use a new form for each tenant and postal address (where applicable).
4. If faults are identified and remedial work is required but has not been carried out, the record should still be completed and presented to the home owner or landlord/managing agent with a copy to the tenant (where applicable).
   Note: For Rented accommodation, the responsibility for having the remedial work completed, lies with the landlord/managing agent.
5. If faults identified have been rectified, complete the section entitled Remedial Action Taken in the appropriate appliance line.

Safety checked by (Trading Title) details:

The name of the CORGI registered company, registered gas operative carrying out the safety check and the address, telephone number and CORGI registration number of the company are also required The form needs to be signed and dated by the registered gas operative who carried out the safety check

Tenant/Home Owner details:

The name, address and telephone number of the property where the inspection is being/was carried out should be entered here

Landlord/agent details:

The name, address and telephone number details of the landlord, or where appropriate, their managing agent should be entered here

Appliance details:

• Location – room/area in the property in which the appliance is installed
• Type – boiler, cooker, water heater, etc
• Make – the manufacturer’s name
• Model – the name of the appliance, e.g. Netaheat 10/16
• Flue type – open-flued, room-sealed or flueless

Inspection details:

• Landlords Appliance – (if applicable) indicate YES, NO or N/A
• Inspected – an inspection should be carried out an all applicable owned by the landlord or home owner. Indicate YES or NO
  Note: Any appliance(s) not owned by the landlord (tenants own) should be noted in the APPLIANCE DETAILS section. A line should be down through the inspection details line and NO entered in the inspected box.
Note: Details of any faults found on tenants own appliances (those not owned by the landlord/managing agent) should be recorded in the DETAILS OF ANY FAULTS section and the appropriate action should be taken, i.e. a Warning Label and Warning Advice notice issued Gas operatives have a duty to prohibit the use of unsafe appliance even if the appliance is not owned by the landlord. Action taken here should be in accordance with the current CORGI Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure.
• Operating Pressure/Heat Input – the appliance operating pressure (mbar) or the heat input rating (kW/h or Btu/h) ? Safety Device – correct operation. Indicate YES, NO or N/A
Note: Flame supervision devices (FSDs) should be tested to ensure that they shut off the gas supply positively within the maximum fail safe period. Atmosphere sensing devices (ASDs) and spillage monitoring devices (TTBs) should be tested in accordance with appliance manufacturer’s installation/maintenance instructions.
• Ventilation Satisfactory – indicate YES or NO
• Visual Condition of Flue – a visual inspection of the accessible areas of the flue system should be carried out. It is very important that flues fitted in, or running through, loft areas (where applicable) are inspected, Indicate Pass, Fail or N/A
Note: Gas fires should be removed and catchment spaces inspected. Other appliance that are connected to chimneys require the catchment space to be checked where there is an inspection opening.
• Flue performance check – Flue Flow Test this test should be performed using a suitably sized smoke pellet placed in the flue via the catchment space, draught diverter or combustion chamber
The appliance may be used to preheat the flue but should not be operating during the test. Indicate PASS, FAIL or N/A