Gas servicing and Landlord certificates in the current climate

[Mike4]

Another thread in here had worked around to discussing whether gas boilers must still be serviced, this but a mod requested we stop as it was off topic for the thread. So I'll do a separate thread to answer the question left hanging, and which a lot of people are worrying about now.

Or more controversially, to carry out a Landlord Gas Safety Inspection, which some landlords consider an emergency given the refusal of the HSE to relax the requirement to have them carried out annually.

Car safety is treated as a much lower risk, given the extension of MOTs announced around a couple of months ago.

But what of boiler inspections in owner occupied houses?

1) Periodic maintenance/servicing of a boiler is good practice but there is no law positively mandating it. The closest the law gets is requiring gas appliances to be kept in safe working condition, with nothing mentioned about how this is to be achieved. A service six months late is unlikely to be a problem technically, rather like the extended MoT. The twelve month frequency is arbitrary anyway - there is no technical reason a service or MoT needs to be every twelve months specifically, as opposed to every 11 or 13. Twelve months is just chosen for organising convenience. Lots of boiler manufacturers' extended guarantees demand timely annual servicing but most manufacturers have now announced they will not hold their customers to this condition.

2) Annual Landlord Gas Safety Inspections ARE a legal requirement however, which perversely is not being relaxed. Gas Safe Register however, are telling gas bods that there is no legal obligation on us to carry them out if requested, even if by a regular customer and their old cert has expired. This impacts on landlords who may be finding it impossible to get their mandatory safety inspections carried out. Gas Safe are telling landlords that provided they have made reasonable (but failed) attempts to find a willing gas bod to carry out a due annual inspection, and records of those failed attempts can be produced, they are unlikely to be prosecuted. Or words to that effect. I'm not sure of the legal basis for them saying this, but that is what they are saying.

These are the positions as I understand them as a gas bod, for the benefit of those worried about it. IANAL.

[PinkDalek]

All helpful, thank you.

Gas Safe are telling landlords that provided they have made reasonable (but failed) attempts to find a willing gas bod to carry out a due annual inspection, and records of those failed attempts can be produced, they are unlikely to be prosecuted.

I've found this Information for landlords Understand your gas safety responsibilities and protect your tenants https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/renting-a-property/information-for-landlords/ dated 30 March 2020 and this Coronavirus (COVID-19): Advice for landlords The HSE have provided the following guidance for landlords. https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/covid-19-advice-and-guidance/landlords/ last updated 18 May [2020 assumed].

I think Scenario 6 on the second link covers your summary quoted above but they do say:

... If your usual engineer will not carry out the gas safety checks, you should contact an alternative registered gas engineer business to secure their services. ...

I realise your willing gas bod and failed attempts would cover that aspect but I include it for emphasis.

The reason I looked there, prompted by your post, was more along the lines of attempting to find out what insurers are saying on the issue. I suppose, if that is what HSE are saying and one has done and recorded the necessary then one should be okay but, given what some people say about insurers, I'd hate to put it to the test.

[Loup321]

These are general questions on gas safety certificates, from a part-time lardlord (one property) who currently has a tenant with underlying health issues. My Gas Safe engineer is struggling to get into the property, and has said that there is only 6 weeks grace on getting the certificate renewed.

What is the situation if the tenant doesn't answer their phone or reply to texts from the Gas Safe engineer to arrange a time to do the check? Is an obstructive tenant a reasonable defence in court (in the normal world)? Or a tenant who has underlying health issues and is shielding (in the current coronavirus situation)?

Who polices the rules? Are larger landlords audited? Are smaller landlords only brought to account if the tenant complains to Trading Standards or the Council? I would hope that an obstructive (or ill) tenant wouldn't report their landlord, but with some tenants you never know...

Thanks for any answers to these questions.

[Mike4]

These are general questions on gas safety certificates, from a part-time lardlord (one property) who currently has a tenant with underlying health issues. My Gas Safe engineer is struggling to get into the property, and has said that there is only 6 weeks grace on getting the certificate renewed.

What is the situation if the tenant doesn't answer their phone or reply to texts from the Gas Safe engineer to arrange a time to do the check? Is an obstructive tenant a reasonable defence in court (in the normal world)? Or a tenant who has underlying health issues and is shielding (in the current coronavirus situation)?

Who polices the rules? Are larger landlords audited? Are smaller landlords only brought to account if the tenant complains to Trading Standards or the Council? I would hope that an obstructive (or ill) tenant wouldn't report their landlord, but with some tenants you never know...

Thanks for any answers to these questions.

1) I've not noticed or heard anything about a six week grace period, although to be fair I may have just mentally set it aside as I wanted the current situation when I read all the reams of bumf sent by GSR. "Why use ten words when a thousand will do", is their usual modus operandi.

2) The situation as I understand it is the same. Keep a record/log of unanswered calls/texts/failed attempts to contact your tenant, and HSE will take a lenient view, should it come to it. Which it probably won't.

3) No-one polices the rules routinely. The times they get policed are when there is a gas-related accident or incident bad enough for the HSE to get called in to investigate, or when you try to get a court order to evict your tenant for breach of tenancy. Unsympathetic judges have been known to chuck out applications for Possession Orders when the landlord has failed to properly discharge all their duties as a LL, including having an in-date gas ticket. Larger landlords are not audited AFAIK but if caught, they are a high profile case which will always be prosecuted. I dunno the route by which a tenant can make a complaint. Tenants generally are clueless about when their gas cert run out, or even what it is exactly.

[PinkDalek]

These are general questions on gas safety certificates, from a part-time lardlord (one property) who currently has a tenant with underlying health issues. My Gas Safe engineer is struggling to get into the property ...

In addition to what Mike has written, look at the second link I provided which includes:

The law is flexible and where it is not possible to carry out a gas safety check, it will normally be enough to show that you took reasonable steps to do so. In the event you are unable to gain access to the property, e.g. refusal of access due to tenants self-isolating, or if you are unable to engage a registered gas engineer to carry out the work due to a shortage of available engineers, you will be expected to demonstrate that you took reasonable steps to comply with the law. ...

[orchard101]

I have just had a boiler check, yesterday, from my landlord (a housing ass). He knocked at the door, asked me to go into the living room and came in, wearing a face mask. He did the job, said thank you and left. No problems as we were never closer than about 10 meters.
I was happy to risk it as I know how important it is.