Landlord gas safety certificates explained

What is a landlord gas safety certificate?

The "certificate" is the record a Gas Safe registered engineer gives you after the yearly gas safety check. People often call it a CP12, but that name isn't used in the law. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36 call it a record of the safety check.

The check must cover, as a minimum, the matters set out in regulation 26(9):

• how well any flue works
• the supply of combustion air
• the appliance's operating pressure or heat input (or its combustion performance where that can't reasonably be measured)
• that the appliance works safely

According to HSE's guidance on gas safety records, the record must include the engineer's name, Gas Safe registration number and signature, the date, the property address, your name and address, where each appliance is, and any defects found and what was done about them.

All checks must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. You can check the engineer's registration card or search the Gas Safe Register, as HSE explains. The card also shows which types of gas work they are qualified for.

Which appliances need checking?

HSE says that all permanent and portable gas appliances and flues you provide need an annual check. That includes boilers, gas fires and gas cookers.

• Tenant-owned appliances are the tenant's responsibility, and so is a flue that serves only their appliance. HSE still recommends including every flue connected to a gas appliance in your check.
• Installation pipework isn't covered by the annual check, but you still have to keep it in a safe condition (HSE maintenance guidance).

How often do you need a gas safety check?

Every appliance and flue must be checked within 12 months of being installed and then at intervals of no more than 12 months (regulation 36(3)). Before a new tenancy starts, the check must have been done in the 12 months before the tenancy begins (HSE: who needs a gas safety check).

The 2-month early window

Since April 2018 you can have the check done in the 2 months before the deadline and it is treated as if it was done on the deadline date (regulation 36A). It works like an MOT: you don't lose any time by booking early.

Example: your last check was on 15 March 2026, so the next one is due by 15 March 2027. A check done on 20 January 2027 counts as done on 15 March 2027, so the following one is due by 15 March 2028.

If you go earlier than 2 months, the 12 months run from the date of the new check instead. If you use the early window, keep each record until two further checks have been done (HSE record keeping).

Our free certificate renewal date calculator works out the deadline and the start of the early window for you.

Copies for tenants and keeping records

• Existing tenants: give them a copy within 28 days of the check (regulation 36(6)(a)).
• New tenants: give them a copy of the latest record before they move in (regulation 36(6)(b)).
• Stays of 28 days or less: you can display a copy prominently in the property instead (HSE). This is the usual approach for holiday lets.
• Keeping records: keep each record for at least 2 years, or until two further checks have been done if you use the early window (HSE).

If a tenant won't let the engineer in

You must not force entry. You have to show you took all reasonable steps. HSE suggests writing to the tenant to explain that the check is a legal requirement for their safety, leaving a notice after each missed visit, and keeping a record of every attempt and all correspondence (HSE: dealing with tenants).

Lodgers, HMOs and holiday lets

The gas duties reach further than most other landlord rules.

• Lodgers: HSE lists rooms let in private households as covered (HSE: who is a landlord), and the regulations apply to people living in your property under a licence as well as a tenancy (regulation 36(1)). So if you take in a lodger, you still need the yearly check. This is different from the electrical and alarm rules, which don't apply when you share your home with the occupier. See renting a room and our EICR guide.
• HMOs: the check is the same. If your HMO is licensed, a licence condition is to send the council an updated gas safety certificate every year (GOV.UK HMO licences). Any HMO manager must also give the council the latest gas certificate within 7 days of a written request (Management of HMOs Regulations 2006, regulation 6). See HMO landlords.
• Holiday lets: HSE lists rented holiday accommodation, including cottages, flats, chalets, caravans and narrow boats on inland waterways (HSE). For stays of 28 days or less you can display the record in the property. See holiday lets.

How much does a gas safety check cost?

There is no official price. HSE and GOV.UK don't publish typical costs, and the price depends on where you are, how many appliances there are and whether the engineer does a service at the same visit. Get quotes from two or three Gas Safe registered engineers and check each one on the Gas Safe Register.

Gas safety check or boiler service?

They are different things. The safety check is the yearly legal check that produces the record. Maintenance is a separate duty: HSE describes it as an ongoing programme of inspections and any repairs needed, and says appliances should be serviced in line with the manufacturer's instructions, or every year if there are no instructions (HSE: maintaining gas appliances and flues).

Many engineers can do both at one visit. If you book a service, ask for the landlord gas safety record as well, and check you get it.

What happens if you don't have one?

Breaking the gas safety regulations is a criminal offence. HSE's leaflet for landlords says you risk prosecution, with a fine, imprisonment or both for each offence (HSE: Landlords, a guide to landlords' duties). It is also an offence to use, or allow the use of, a gas appliance you know is unsafe.

The simplest protection is to know your date well in advance. BeCert sends reminders for each certificate, and the free compliance checker shows which checks apply to your property.