What is a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR)?

As a landlord, you are legally required to get all of the gas appliances and flues in your residential properties inspected each year. A qualified gas engineer, who is on the Gas Safe register, must carry out this work. Upon inspection, you will receive a gas safety certificate, often referred to as an LGSR (Landlord Gas Safety Record) or a CP12 certificate. This is essential if you want to let out a property to prospective tenants.

Read on to find out more about Landlord Gas Safety Records and your responsibilities regarding the gas appliances in your rented properties.

Gas Safety – What needs to be checked?

Under UK law, landlords are responsible for the maintenance of gas pipework, appliances and chimneys or flues in their rented property portfolios. They must be kept in a safe condition and inspected annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Annual gas safety inspections are designed to check the following:

• Appliances operating at the right pressure
• Adequate air supply to appliances
• Appliances burning gas correctly
• Clear flues and chimneys so appliances can discharge gases and fumes safely
• Safety devices in working order on each appliance

According to the Health and Safety Executive, all permanent and portable gas appliances and flues in a rented property require annual gas safety checks. A gas safety check must be repeated each year on the appliances and flues in your property. Before the start of a new lease, you must ensure that the gas safety certificate is still valid i.e. within 12 months of the start of the lease.

What if tenants own the gas appliances?

It’s worth noting that as a landlord, you are only responsible for gas safety checks on gas appliances, pipework and flues that you have provided for your tenants use. You are not responsible for organising gas safety checks for tenant-owned appliances. However, please bear in mind that you are responsible for any pipework and flues they are connected to and will need to have these checked and included in your gas safety report.

What is a Gas Safety certificate?

A gas safety certificate will be issued after an annual gas safety inspection has taken place at your rented property. It will contain the results of the checks carried out on your gas appliances and flues. Keep in mind that there is not a standard gas safe register certificate, so they may vary if you use different companies to carry out the work each year.

As a minimum, gas safety records must contain the following information:

• Description and location of each appliance or flue checked
• Name, registration number and signature of the Gas Safe registered engineer carrying out the check
• Date of inspection
• Address of the rented property where the appliances and flues are installed
• Name and address of the landlord (or letting agent in the case of a managed property)
• Any safety concerns identified and remedial action taken
• Confirmation that the safety checks have been carried out in line with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

What if remedial work is required?

Your gas engineer will issue you with your Landlord Gas Safety Record on completion of the inspection. Your gas safety certificate will still be issued even if there are safety concerns and remedial work is required. Once you have taken follow-up action to resolve the safety issues, you will be able to supplement your gas safety record with the necessary updates. You are required to keep copies of your records for a minimum of 2 years.

Please note, if an appliance is deemed dangerous but cannot be fixed immediately, the landlord is responsible for ensuring that it is not used until a qualified gas engineer has repaired it.

Who can carry out the checks and remedial work?

Just to reiterate, the person carrying out your gas safety certificate checks must be a qualified gas engineer, who is on the Gas Safe register. If they are not registered, they will not be deemed fit to carry out the checks or complete any remedial work.

To check that a gas engineer is on the Gas Safe register you can visit the Gas Safe Register website. You can also check which areas of gas they are competent working in by looking on the back of their Gas Safe register card. A reputable, qualified gas engineer will be more than happy to show you this. Don’t be afraid to ask!

Do tenants need a copy of the LGSR?

You are required to supply any existing tenants with a copy of the LGSR certificate within 28 days of the annual safety check. If you have prospective tenants for one of your properties, they must be issued the certificate before they move in.

Is a LGSR the same as a CP12?

Previously, LGSR certificates were known as CP12 or CORGI Performa 12 certificates. This dates back to when CORGI was the main UK body for gas safety and all gas engineers had to be CORGI-registered.

In 2009, the Gas Safety Register took over as the official industry body and the CP12 certificate was replaced with the landlord homeowner gas safety record. Essentially, they serve the same purpose – to prove a Gas Safe registered engineer has checked that the gas appliances and flues in a residential property are in good working order and safe to use.

Need a Gas Safety Record? Let us help!

Are you looking for a landlord gas safety certificate? The best way to save time and money is to purchase landlord cover. Hometree can deal with your LGSR on your behalf so you don’t have to worry on renewal. Simply take out one of our Landlord cover plans and we’ll include your annual boiler service and Landlord Gas Safety Record as standard.

Our cover plans offer unlimited call-outs and claims, including evenings and weekends. We’re happy to converse with you or your tenants as part of the cover, ensuring we meet everybody’s needs.