Landlord safety checks: gas, electrics and alarms in one calendar
By the Offrano editorial team · · 4 min read
Letting a home brings recurring safety duties with fixed deadlines. Three of them come up in almost every private let in England: the gas safety check, the electrical installation report and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Each has its own rules about who may do the work, how often, and what tenants must receive. This guide puts them side by side so that a landlord, or a tenant checking their rights, can see what should happen and when. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own versions of these rules.
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Gas: the annual safety check
Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, landlords must have gas appliances and flues they provide checked for safety every 12 months. All checks must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer; being a former gas fitter is not enough. A check can be done up to two months before the deadline while keeping the original anniversary date, which helps avoid a drifting schedule.
Existing tenants must receive a copy of the gas safety record within 28 days of the check, and new tenants before they move in. Electronic copies are allowed if the tenant agrees. Appliances that tenants own themselves are their responsibility, but the landlord remains responsible for the pipework serving them.
Source: hse.gov.uk · hse.gov.uk · hse.gov.uk
Electrics: inspection and testing every five years
Private landlords in England must have the electrical installations in their properties inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years. The result is a report, usually an Electrical Installation Condition Report. Since regulations extended to the social rented sector, social landlords also have to have the electrical equipment they provide checked at least every five years.
A copy of the report must go to the existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, to a new tenant before they occupy the property, to a prospective tenant within 28 days of a request, and to the local council within 7 days if it asks. If the report identifies work that is required, the landlord has to have it carried out within the time the regulations allow.
Source: gov.uk
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Since 1 October 2022, the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm rules in England require at least one smoke alarm on each storey of a home where there is a room used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers. Landlords must repair or replace alarms once they are told they are faulty.
The regulations do not prescribe whether alarms are mains-powered or battery-powered, or exactly where carbon monoxide alarms go. Guidance asks landlords to choose based on the building and the tenants, and to use carbon monoxide alarms that comply with the relevant British Standard.
Source: gov.uk
A simple compliance calendar
- gas safety check: every 12 months, by a Gas Safe registered engineer
- gas safety record: to existing tenants within 28 days, new tenants before move-in
- electrical inspection: at least every five years, by a qualified person
- electrical report: to tenants within 28 days, to the council within 7 days on request
- alarms: tested at the start of each new tenancy, repaired when reported faulty
- EPC: valid certificate before marketing, minimum rating rules for private lets
Source: gov.uk · hse.gov.uk
Choosing who does the work
Gas and electrical checks need different people. For gas, check the engineer's card on the Gas Safe Register, including the categories of work they are qualified for. For electrics, the regulations require a qualified and competent person; many landlords use electricians registered with a competent person scheme, whose registration can be checked on the scheme's website.
Combining visits saves tenants disruption: an electrician can test alarms during the electrical inspection, and a gas engineer can check carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with gas appliances. Keep every certificate and report together, with the dates, so you can show compliance quickly if a council or tenant asks.
Tenants have a part to play too. They should report faults promptly, give access for checks with proper notice, and not remove or disconnect alarms. Where a tenant repeatedly refuses access, landlords should keep a record of every attempt to arrange the check, because that record is what shows they took all reasonable steps.
Source: hse.gov.uk · gov.uk
Booking an electrician or gas engineer
If you need an electrical inspection or an electrician for remedial work, describe the property and the job in our request form. It goes to exactly one electrician in your area that buys it; before your details are released, we email you the business's name, address and phone number. The request costs you nothing. Offrano does not verify registrations, so check the Gas Safe Register or the electrician's scheme yourself.