When it comes to annual boiler checks, you might know that you need a gas safety certificate but you may not know what they are and why they are important, so here’s a breakdown of what is involved with a gas safety certificate.

What you need to know

If you are  landlord, it is a legal requirement to get a gas safety certificate every 12 month. This is part of the gas safety (Installation and use) Regulations. It is important to point out that any gas safety checks must be carried out by a registered Gas safe engineer for anything that makes use of gas in your property. If you rent your property through an agent, it is important to determine who of the two parties will be responsible for carrying out maintenance. Whichever party that is stated in the contract to handle this must so do under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to gas safe certificates is that you must keep copies of all paperwork issued to you. The reason for this is not simply for your own records but because you are required to keep a copy of any gas inspection for 2 years, and must supply a copy to your tenants within a 28 day period.

What is covered on a Gas Safety Inspection?

• Your heating engineer will need to check for what is known as ‘gas tightness’. All standing and working pressure must be tested.
• Your heating engineer will need to check burner pressure and gas rate will be checked against the appliances data to make sure everything is working as it should and is not dangerous or showing yellow or orange flames.
• Carbon Monoxide is a huge danger in domestic homes. Therefore, your heating engineer will need to check that you have the right kind of ventilation.
• Your heating engineer will need to check your flue flow to make sure that any products of combustion are removed. Any flame devices will need to be check to make sure they are working the way they should.
• Finally, your heating engineer will do general checks to your property, should they find anything that has evidence of any appliance operating unsafe will be reported. There must also be checks on the stabilizing of the appliance.

If an appliance fails any of the above checks, then it cannot be issued with a Gas Safety Certificate.