Landlords’ Gas Safety Records
What would you expect to see on a Landlord’s Gas Safety Record?
At a minimum, the record needs to contain.
- A description and location of each appliance – flue checked
- Name, registration number and signature of the engineer who carried out the check
- Date on which the check was carried out
- The address of the property where the appliance – flue is installed
- The name and address of the landlord (or their agent where applicable)
- Any safety defect identified and any action required or taken to rectify it
- Confirmation of the results of the operational safety checks carried out on the appliances.
Landlords also have a legal duty to maintain pipework in a safe condition; so many proprietary forms also include the facility for the gas engineer to record the results of pipework integrity tests, which indicate whether or not the pipework installation is safe.
It’s in your best interests to let a Gas Safe registered engineer in if they visit your property to carry out a check, but don’t forget to ask to see their gas safe ID card first.
For more info visit; http://www.landlords.org.uk
If you’re not a landlord; and you would like to know what documentation you require
If you are not a landlord and you do not know what you need, it is always a good idea to confirm things with your gas safe registered engineer what documentation will be provided before having any gas work done in your home, as there’s no legal requirement for registered engineers to provide any documentation. In most cases your gas engineer will provide you with some documentation, as it is good practice to do so.
The level of detail provided on any documentation depends on the type of work undertaken and could vary from a simple job sheet, or invoice, to a record containing a similar level of detail and information to that provided in a landlord’s gas safety record. If you require something specific, than make sure you have agreed this with your registered engineer before they start work.
Student moving into a rented property
Students are like any other tenants in that your landlord needs to ensure that any gas appliances in the property are safe for you to use. As a student, gas safety is unlikely to be top of your priorities list, but knowing your rights and knowing what to do in an emergency situation. Being very alerted to the first warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning might just save your life, as carbon monoxide is a silent killer.
The six symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning sometimes could be mistaken for a hangover. To avoid this, it’s a good idea to invest in an audible carbon monoxide alarm and it could save your life if things ever went wrong. Now days you can buy a battery operated carbon monoxide at any DIY store, usually for the price of £15 to £20 once and it’s yours. You can take it with you wherever you go next and please do not forget to test it once a month.
