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The following is the legal obligations that a landlord should follow:- Are your properties safe and legal? Your legal obligations are many.... · The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 stipulate that gas appliances and installations are tested and reported safe every year. · The Electrical Equipment (safety) Regulations 1994 and The Plugs & Sockets etc.(safety) Regulations 1994 state that supplying unsafe electrical goods is an offence. · The Consumer Protection Act 1987 applies if a landlord supplies electrical equipment in let accommodation. The property should be checked before you offer it for rent. · The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 stipulates that if you do business using a standard form contract then your terms should be reasonable. · Any goods supplied under The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 should be of satisfactory quality, durable, free from defect and fit for their purpose. · Any defence is likely to fail under Due Diligence if there was a reasonable step that could have been taken but was not. You can't afford to be complacent! Landlords cannot ignore their liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence. Gas Installations can leak deadly carbon monoxide (CO). You can't see it, smell it, or taste it, but it will injure or even kill you if you breathe it in. Electricity, too, is dangerous. According to RoSPA, 3,000 people were hospitalised in one year due to electrical current accidents. In 1995 electricity killed 66 people, injured 23,756 and caused 7,500 fires Landlords must have gas installations and appliances in rented accommodation tested and certificated safe every year. IT'S THE LAW! And in the event of an accident involving an electrical appliance, the landlord must be able to prove that the appliance was safe. Penalties for infringement can be severe - with fines of up to £5,000, six months (or more) imprisonment, or both. The only way to ensure gas and electrical installations and appliances in your properties are safe is to TEST them.
Q. What if I cannot afford to do a safety check/service every year ? A. You have a legal duty under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to maintain all appliances and flues, which you have provided for your tenants to use and have them checked for safety at least once every 12 months by a CORGI registered installer. Q. What if I ignore the regulations ? A. You are putting lives at risk and breaking the law. The HSE gives gas safety a high priority and will take the appropriate action to ensure compliance with the regulations. In certain circumstances this could result in a substantial fine and/or a custodial sentence. Q. Can I use a handyman or plumber for gas work ? A. A CORGI registered installer with the required competence to do the particular work should always be used. By law (a) anyone (whether an employer or self-employed) running a business, e.g. a plumber, who carries out work on a gas appliance/fitting must be CORGI registered, and (b) any individual doing gas work must be competent to do it safely. DIY gas work could be dangerous and is likely to be illegal. Landlords must use only a registered installer for maintenance and safety checks on gas equipment provided for tenants use. Q. How can I ensure an installer is CORGI registered ? A. CORGI registered installers should have a current CORGI identity card on which is an expiry date and details of the appliances they are competent to work on. If in any doubt you can ring CORGI or check on their web site to see if an installer is registered. Q. What should I do if the installer is not CORGI registered and/or has falsely claimed they are CORGI registered ? A. It is against the law for a non-registered installer to do any work on gas appliances and/or flues. Phone your local HSE area office or CORGI. Q. I have LPG heaters in my properties - do I need them checked ? A. Yes, Landlord duties for LPG appliances are the same as for natural gas. The landlord must maintain all LPG appliances which they provide for tenants and have a safety check carried out at least once every 12 months by a CORGI registered installer. Q. How far do I need to go if the tenant prevents or is not at home for the safety check ? A. A landlord has to show that they took all reasonable steps to comply with the law. The courts haven't made any decisions about what this means and the efforts you need to make will depend on individual circumstances. However, a court is likely to view your actions as reasonable if you adopt the following procedure. If your gas installer doesn't get in on the first visit, you should give your tenant the opportunity to agree a suitable date and you should contact them in writing to explain why you need access. Make a minimum of three attempts to carry out the safety check and ensure you keep records of letters sent and/or telephone calls/conversations. It is a good idea to include arrangements for access in the tenancy agreement. Q. What do I have to do if I change a room containing a gas appliance into a bedroom for the first time ? A. Since 31 October 1998, any room converted to use as sleeping accommodation should not contain the following types of gas appliances: 1. A gas fire, gas space heater or a gas water heater (including a gas boiler) over 14 kilowatts gross input unless it is room sealed. 2. A gas fire, gas space heater, or a gas water heater (including a gas boiler) of 14 kilowatts gross input or less or any instantaneous water heater unless it is room sealed or has an atmosphere-sensing device. If you are unsure, you should ask a CORGI registered installer to check for you. Q. What responsibility do I have if my tenant is ill and has to sleep downstairs in a room with a gas appliance ? A. You should advise your tenant at the start of the tenancy of any rooms that are unsuitable to be slept in due to an inappropriate appliance, for example a gas fire. However, if you find out that your tenant is sleeping in a room with a gas appliance that does not comply (as above), you should arrange for the appliance to be changed as soon as possible. Sometimes the change of use will be short term, for example when someone is recovering from an injury or illness, and is expected to start using his or her proper bedroom again in a few days/weeks. The current law is not entirely clear and interpretation would finally be for a court to decide in particular circumstances. However, a reasonable approach might be to allow the continued (short-term) use of the appliances concerned provided that they have been maintained within the last 12 months, have an up to date landlord's gas safety certificate, a carbon monoxide detector (choose one which complies with BS 7860 or BS EN 50291) is fitted in the room and advice is sought from a CORGI installer as to the need for additional safety checks. Another alternative is to provide alternative heating such as an electric fire. You should keep the situation under review and if the tenant's health does not improve as expected, then the appliances must be changed to ones that comply. You should also warn the occupier to always turn off gas appliances at night and emphasise the need for ventilation in rooms where gas appliances are situated. Q. What checks should I do between tenancies ? A. You should visually check the property to see if the departing tenant has either removed appliances unsafely, or alternatively left behind their own appliance, which should either be removed or checked for safety by a CORGI registered installer. Before you re-let the property you need to ensure that all appliances are safe and have an up to date landlord's gas safety certificate (a copy of which needs to be given to the new tenant); it is also good practice to have the pipework inspected and tested for soundness. If the property is likely to remain empty for a long period and/or there may be vandalism, you should think about asking for the gas to be isolated until a new tenant moves in. If, however, a new tenant is moving in quickly, and all the appliances and flues were checked recently, you should just arrange for a visual check to make sure nothing has changed. Q. Can I keep Landlord's Gas Safety Certificates electronically ? A. The introduction of legislation relating to electronic signatures and records permits both the record and signature to be in electronic format. Many gas installation businesses and landlords are adopting electronic systems across the range of their activities and these offer advantages, particularly in the areas of work planning and monitoring. However there have been concerns that the use of electronic landlord gas safety records (LGSR) may lead to an increased potential for forgery/alteration and hence a reduction in the intended safety assurance for tenants. This guidance confirms a goal-setting approach, developed following discussions with industry and government, which will allow industry to develop electronic solutions compatible with the necessary security objectives. Guidance Gas installers may provide a landlord with a LGSR in electronic format with an electronic signature. The landlord then keeps this as the original record. This record should:
These objectives should be achieved by a combination of management systems and appropriate technology in accordance with relevant British/European Standards. The gas installer may also, with the landlord’s agreement, send or give a copy of the record directly to the tenant to provide additional assurance of its source. The record already includes the installer’s CORGI registration number and the addition of CORGI’s enquiry line telephone number would encourage the tenant to check its validity. In order to safeguard the installer in case the landlord subsequently alters the record, he/she should keep his or her own secure copy to allow subsequent verification. Some relevant legislation and standards (not exhaustive) The Electronic Signatures Regulations 2002 Data Protection Act 1998 BS ISO/IEC 17799:2000 (BS 7799-1:2000) Information technology – Code of practice for information security management BS 7799-2 2002 - Information security management. Specification with guidance for use BS ISO 15489-1:2001 - Information and documentation records management. General BIP 0025-1:2002 - Effective Records Management guide to BSISO 15489-1 BIP 0008:2004 - Code of practice for legal admissibility and evidential weight of information stored electronically
Q. Do I have any responsibilities where the gas safety regulations do not apply ? A. If you are an employer or self-employed person, you may still have duties (including for gas safety) under the general provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act and related regulations. The courts haven't made any decisions about actions required and the efforts you need to make will depend on individual circumstances. However, the following action is recommended: 1. Where tenants own gas appliances, send a reminder that these should be serviced and checked for safety each year, and where possible, offer to include these (at reasonable cost) within the arrangements put in place by the landlord: 2. For rented property outside the scope of the Regulations (e.g. leases greater than 7 years) extend a similar approach to 1 above in the case of appliances provided by the landlord; 3. At the start of the tenancy you should advise the tenant of any flues or chimneys that are unsuitable for the installation of a gas appliance. You may also wish to consider regulating the installation of any appliance by a tenant through the conditions of a tenancy agreement. It is also recommended to include all flues and chimneys connected to gas appliances within the landlord's safety check, even where they do not serve appliances provided by the landlord.
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