Gas Safety Week: Are you fully compliant?
This week is Gas Safety Week. Here James Kent of Safe2, the NRLA's new compliance service, talks about landlords' responsibilities and how to ensure you are fully compliant.
Gas safety week this year comes amidst a renewed focus by the Government on standards in rented homes, not least following the coroner’s report in November last year into the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in Rochdale.
We are awaiting details about the Government’s proposal for a decent homes standard to apply to the private rented sector, as it currently does to socially rented housing. In addition, the Renters (Reform) Bill proposes the development of a new property portal to make it easier for prospective tenants to be confident that properties meet all required standards.
One of the most important responsibilities of a landlord is to ensure the properties they rent out are gas safe with a compulsory annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer. A copy of the resulting gas safety record has to be provided to the tenant within 28 days and to all new tenants. A copy of the most recent two checks must always be retained by the landlord.
There is an obligation for landlords to maintain gas appliances, flues and pipework in a safe condition. To help ensure there are no problems, it is advisable for landlords to have their gas appliances regularly serviced.
It is also recommended by Gas Safe and the Health and Safety Executive that landlords ask the gas engineer to check the installation pipework, even though this isn’t part of the gas safety check, and the overall tightness of the system. A record should be kept of services and any repairs.
Landlords are also required to fit a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used by tenants that has a gas appliance, except cookers, and to check these at the start of a new tenancy.
The figures
According to the English Private Landlord Survey in 2021, 85% of landlords said that they carried out an annual gas inspection and 82% of landlords provided a copy of the gas safety certificate to the tenant. A survey of NRLA members for DLUHC on regulatory compliance last year found that nearly 97% of landlords were “fully aware” of their obligations under gas safety regulations.
This year the NRLA is able to not just give landlords guidance on gas safety but can provide the tools they need to ensure the properties they rent continue to be gas safe.
Through its purchase of Safe2, the NRLA can now offer landlords all forms of property safety certification including those related to gas safety. When a safety check determines that a property has not met legal minimum standards, Safe2 can provide a quote for whatever remedial work needs to be undertaken. Where they rectify the problem, they will re-test the relevant system free of charge.
Aside from these benefits, NRLA members will also be entitled to a five per cent discount when using any of Safe2’s services.
It is clear that the vast majority of landlords are aware of their obligations for gas safety and act on them. Through using Safe2 the NRLA has made the annual obligation easier to comply with.
