Legal Requirements for Landlords – Boiler Safety

                                                                                         

The UK law is very detailed and prescriptive when it comes to the requirements of safety checks of rental accommodations. Annual gas safety inspection must be undertaken by a certified Corgi gas engineer to ensure the legal requirements are met. The law allows for a fine of up to 5,000 and an imprisonment of up to six months if the landlords failed to meet this requirement.

By law the landlord is required to make sure the following requirements are adhered to:

* No open flue gas appliance is located in the same room where people are sleeping, a bathroom or a shower room.

* All work relating to the repair, service or installation of gas appliances to be carried out by a CORGI certified engineer.

* Both mobile and fixed gas appliances in the property must be kept at a safe working condition and inspected on an annual basis by a Corgi registered engineer.

* Any work done on gas appliances within the premises should be approved according to a list of safety tests undertaken by a Corgi approved engineer.

* Users of the premises must have free access to all documentation regarding the gas appliances, such as manuals, safety documents etc.

*Dates of safety inspections should be noted clearly on a set of records. The records should also include any defects identified and work done on them. The occupiers of the property should have access to these records within 28 days of the inspection or before new tenants are moving into the property.

It is highly recommended for landlords to install carbon monoxide detection and alarm devices to protect the tenants or users of the property. Carbon monoxide is a lethal gas that occurs where there is an incomplete burning within the gas boiler, yielding a combination of a single molecule of oxygen with a single molecule or carbon. The gas, which has no odour or colour leads to breathing difficulties and sometimes to death. There are around 20 to 30 deaths in the UK every year as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The legal guidelines for landlords are very demanding when it comes to ensuring all domestic boilers are checked and serviced annually. Large landlords and housing associations find it difficult to meet such statutory requirements mainly owing to the administrative and logistical complexity of arranging access for the Corgi engineer to each property.

Analysing this industry shows that it can prove very difficult for a landlord of a large block of flats to arrange access to each property for the gas engineer. During normal hours, most flats are empty (while the tenants are at work), with very few tenants willing to stay at home and wait for the gas engineer to call in. As tenants are reluctant to take a paid leave to stay at home for such gas safety check, it is difficult for landlords to meet their legal requirements.

Landlords, who are obliged to comply with the law, may have to resort to obtaining an entry warrant if the tenant does not co-operate. This can incur additional cost of approximately 500 per dwelling for police attendance and making good.

About the author:

Tal Potishman, editor of Heating Central, writes articles about efficient heating, boilers, West Hampstead plumbers, underfloor heating and solar thermal. He specializes in helping save money by advising on efficient heating.

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