A gas safety certificate is something that you are required by law to have if you own property. If your property is being used by other individuals, in the form of rentals or as a commercial entity, by law, you need to obtain a gas safety certificate.
If you own your own home, you are not legally bound to have a gas inspection or gas safety certificate. But it is a good idea to always get your gas appliances and connections checked to make sure they are operating according to the law, and there is no leak.
What Is A Gas Safety Certificate?
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A gas safety certificate is a document that certifies that your premises are safe from any gas leak or malfunction. It is a certificate that you can display on your premises so that everyone knows you have gotten your property checked, and it is clear from many gas issues.
A gas safety certificate is legally binding for commercial properties and for property owners who rent their premises. We will discuss the documentation you will receive once you have an inspection on your premises if you are a property owner.
The gas safety engineer will hand you a document called a gas safety record after the inspection. The document will also need to be provided to your tenants.
Your gas safety record document will have the following items on it:
- A description of all gas appliances and flutes that have been checked including their location.
- A name and registration number of the gas safety engineer who carried out all the checks.
- The date the inspection took place.
- The address of the location where the inspection took place.
- Your name and address.
- Information on any remedial measures that need to be taken, if there were any faults found in gas connections or appliances.
- A detailed itemized list of all items that were inspected and the result.
You must check all of the information on this document when the gas safety engineer hands it to you. In addition to the above-listed items, you can request that the engineer also check to make sure all the connections are safe and visually examine all gas pipelines.
Why Do You Need A Gas Safety Certificate?
Your gas safety certificate is a requirement by law if you are a property owner that has tenants. There are many reasons why you need this gas safety certificate:
- You need to show it to your tenants before they can move in.
- You need to make sure that all of your gas appliances are well maintained for the safety of your tenants and community.
- You need to make sure all of your gas pipework is safe with no leaks.
- Given the current pandemic and COVID-19, there are guidelines in place to give priority to the inspection of those areas on the property that are more important.
When Should You Have Your Premises Inspected?
Now that you know what a gas safety certificate is and why you need it, your next probable question would be, when should you get it done? Well, a gas safety certificate is required yearly, and the inspection can be carried out as early as ten months from the last inspection.
This flexibility and other amendments have been made to the gas safety inspection law, which you can find here. It is important to note here that there are a few circumstances where a property owner may have to have a gas safety inspection done twice in one year.
If your old tenants are moving out and you have new tenants moving in and you suspect that gas appliances and connections have been tampered with, then it might be a good idea to have another gas safety inspection done before your new tenants move in. It is your responsibility to make sure your property is safe for tenants.
The onus is on you as a property owner. You also may want to have a gas safety inspection done if your old tenants have left gas appliances and you want to make sure they are working properly and have no connection issues.
Who Issues A Gas Safety Certificate?
One of the most important elements of a gas safety check is to make sure you hire the right person to do the job. If your gas safety engineer is not registered and licensed, the document they issue holds no value.
Here are a few things you want to look out for when a gas inspection company sends a gas safety engineer:
- Each engineer should have an ID card that has their gas registration license number.
- This seven-digit number can be checked online on the gas safe register to make sure they are licensed.
- Alternatively, you can text this number to 85050 to check their number.
- The date on their registration card to make sure it is still valid.
- The ID card will have their picture and their name, check to make sure it matches the person who arrives at your house.
- The name of the company they work for.
- What their qualifications are to work? For example, some gas safe engineers will be qualified to work on specific appliances.
If your gas safety engineer finds a fault in one of your appliances, they will indicate on the gas safety record and disconnect the appliance. You should not use the appliance until it has been fixed.
The gas safe register is one of the best ways to find a gas safety engineer quickly. It is a complete database of all of the qualified gas-safe engineers in your area.
It was created in April 2009 and contains qualified licensed engineers.
How Can You Obtain A Gas Safety Certificate?
You can easily obtain a gas safety certificate by calling a gas safety inspection company and making an appointment. It is a good idea to plan this in advance so that you are not calling too close to the last date that you can have the inspection.
Keep in mind the actual certificate may take up to 48 hours to be issued if there are any issues. So, if you are close to your deadline or if you have new tenants moving in, then you should make sure to schedule beforehand.
When looking for licensed and registered gas safe engineers, then as mentioned previously it is a good idea to refer to the gas safe register to find qualified engineers.
Get Your Gas Safety Certificate Today
You are all set to get your gas safety certificate if you have not already. Now you know why you need it and when you need it. All that is left is to make an appointment and have the inspection carried out.
It is always a good idea to schedule this on your calendar year so that you can have it done well in time. You can mark your calendar months in advance so you know when you need to have the inspection done.
If you need more information about what needs to be inspected and how, then the Home and Safety Executive website is a great source. Stay safe and get that inspection done today if needed!
