Health and safety should be of paramount importance to all letting agents, and knowledge of your responsibilities is essential for ensuring the safety of clients, your business reputation and ensuring compliance with the law.
Gas safety in particular is one area in which you should be well versed in the relevant laws, regulations and your obligations.
Who Is Responsible For Gas Safety?
Who is responsible at any particular property depends entirely upon what is written in the relevant contract. The property management contract should stipulate whether the landlord or the letting agent is responsible for gas safety. If the contract states that you the landlord are responsible then all of the duties that normally apply to landlords with regards to gas safety apply to you.
The specific sets of regulations that apply in all such cases are the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (1)
What Are My Duties In Relation To Gas Safety?
In instances where you have legal responsibility for gas safety, there are a number of things which you must do to ensure compliance.
Firstly, you must arrange for regular maintenance of all gas appliances, flues and pipe work by a Gas Safe registered engineer all of which BELVOIR LETTINGS CAN PROVIDE THROUGH THERE OWN MAINTENANCE COMPANY CORNERSTONE HOUSING.
In addition to this, you are legally required to arrange for a safety check to be carried out every 12 months, again by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Each time a safety check is carried out; you must keep a record of it for at least two years.
In the case of tenants already living at the property you are required to provide them with a copy of this record within 28 days of the safety check being carried out.
It’s essential to remember that if the contract stipulates that you as a landlord are responsible for a property’s gas safety, then you are responsible for every single gas appliance that has been provided for the tenant’s use, and so must ensure that they are regularly checked. You are not responsible for gas appliances owned by the tenant, but you are responsible for the pipes and relevant fittings.
