What gas equipment is covered? The safety check and maintenance requirements generally apply to any gas appliance or flue installed. How do I know whether the gas engineer is Gas Safe registered? The engineer should be able to provide you with a current ID card. The card contains a photo of the engineer, their business registration number and personal licence number, company name, the start and expiry date of the card and a security hologram. The reverse of the card details what kind of gas work the engineer is able to do.
If you have boiler cover, which you can sometimes acquire from your energy supplier, alongside your gas and electricity tariff, the annual servicing of your boiler, which normally costs £80, may be covered. If you’re a landlord, you’re required by law to have all gas appliances supplied by you to be safety checked annually by a registered engineer. Pipework and flues should also be inspected. If you’re a tenant, you should receive a record of the annual gas safety checks on the property, known as the the Landlord Gas Safety record, at the start of your tenancy, and within 28 days of any new check.
Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 states that an employer or self-employed person has a responsibility to provide and maintain plant and systems of work that are, so far as reasonably practical, safe and without risk to health. Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 2306: The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires that the user of an installed gas system and the owner of a mobile gas system shall ensure that the system is properly maintained in good repair to prevent danger. See more details on CP7 Gas Checks.
When things go wrong, gas can leak out of appliances and cause fire, explosions or carbon monoxide poisoning. To avoid dangerous gas leaks, all gas appliances should be fitted, maintained and serviced by qualified and Gas Safe registered professionals only. Whilst it’s important to have a professional tradesperson install and service your gas appliances, there are a number of checks you can make yourself and precautions you can take to make your home gas safe.
