Gas safety certificates: the deadline that never stops
If your rental has any gas appliance, the annual gas safety check is the one deadline with no soft edges: it comes round every year, forever, per property. This guide covers the cycle, the paperwork, and the penalties.
The rule
Every gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with no more than a year between checks, and you must keep each gas safety record (CP12) until two further checks have been done (2 years for an appliance you've since removed). Tenants get a copy within 28 days of the check, or before they move in for new tenancies. For a let of 28 days or less, you may display a copy of the record prominently in the home instead of handing one over.
The duty covers the appliances you provide: a tenant's own gas appliance isn't yours to check, though you still have duties for the parts of the installation and pipework that serve it.
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What it costs to miss
Breaking the gas safety regulations is a criminal offence: in the Crown Court it can mean an unlimited fine, up to two years in prison, or both. If the home has an HMO or selective licence, not giving the council a current gas safety certificate when the licence requires it, or, in any HMO, not giving it within 7 days of the council asking in writing, can also bring a council civil penalty of up to £40,000.
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The trap: the renewal window
The law gives you a window. A check done in the two months before the deadline counts as done on the deadline, so booking it a few weeks early does not pull next year's date forward.
The usual way this goes wrong isn't refusal, it's drift. An engineer visit slips a fortnight, then the next one anchors to the new date, and within a few years the certificate has quietly lapsed between tenancies. Anchoring reminders to the certificate's own expiry (rather than 'about a year since we last thought about it') is what stops it slipping.
Get a gas safety certificate expiry reminder
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Between checks
The annual check isn't the whole duty: between checks you must keep appliances, flues and pipework in a safe condition, and HSE warns not to assume a service covers the safety check, or that the safety check is enough maintenance. Before you re-let, make sure every appliance and flue is safe and the record is up to date, and give the new tenant a copy before they move in.
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Agents, access and records
If an agent manages the home, the contract should say who arranges the checks and keeps the records; where it gives the agent that job, the agent has the same duties as you.
If a tenant won't let the engineer in, you have to show you took all reasonable steps, and HSE strongly advises keeping a record of everything you sent them.
You can keep the record electronically if the copy can be reproduced in hard copy, is secure from loss and interference, and uniquely identifies the engineer who did the check. You or the engineer, with your agreement, can send it to the tenant that way if they're happy with that and can open it.