Did you know that your landlord has legal responsibilities when it comes to gas safety?
If you rent a property, your landlord is legally responsible to ensure a gas safety landlords certificate (CP12) is carried out for the property annually. Ask your landlord for a copy of the current Gas Safety landlords record. This record shows that your gas appliances have had an annual gas safety landlords check by a gas safe registered engineer.
During a gas safety landlords inspection the engineer may deem your appliance unsafe and switch it off. Regardless of how inconvenient this is, you must keep them like that until the landlord has arranged for remedial work to be completed. If turned back on before being repaired you could be at risk of fire, explosions or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Landlords must also maintain the gas appliances, so it is advisable to check the date when yours were last serviced.
Besides having a gas safety landlords certificate (CP12) completed there are things a tenant can do to minimise risks.
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- Report any faulty equipment or problems to the landlord immediately. It is a criminal offence to knowingly use an unsafe gas appliance.
- Ensure smoke alarms are fitted and in working order
- Although not required by law it is recommended you fit carbon monoxide detectors in any room that contains a gas appliance.
- Make sure exits are clear incase of fire
- Keep gas appliances in good condition and have gas safety landlords servicing undertaken annually
- Contact Transco immediately if you believe there to be a gas or carbon monoxide leak
Tenants are asked to:
- Allow gas safe engineers into their homes to carry out annual gas safety landlords checks
- Not to reduce or block the ventilation to gas appliances.
- To not block gas flues or chimneys- required to remove poisonous fumes away from gas appliances.
- Not to carry out any work to install or repair gas appliances – all work must be carried out by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer.
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