The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 deal with landlord’s duties to make sure gas appliances, fittings and flues provided for tenants are safe.

Maintenance: pipework, appliances and flues must be maintained in a safe condition and be accessible for inspection at all times. New regulations came into effect in January 2013 that requires gas flues to be inspected by a registered gas safe engineer. No visual access can result in the boiler being shut down / off and classified as ‘at risk’ by the engineer.

Gas appliances should be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and serviced annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

The frequency of Gas safety checks: a 12 monthly gas safety check must be carried out on every gas appliance / flue and a record of the annual gas safety check must be provided to tenants within 28 days of the check in being completed.

With any new tenancy; the certificate must be made available prior to the tenants moving in. Landlords are obliged to keep copies of the gas safety record for two years.