Importance of a gas safety certificate for owners of the properties
A gas safety certificate, also known as CP12, is important to you if you plan to sell your home or even if you are a landlord/builder. Why? Because most buyers want to know that gas appliances have recently been tested and are safe!
What is a gas safety certificate?
A Gas Safety Certificate London is a legal requirement for landlords wishing to lease real estate, as the certificate confirms that all gas appliances in the property are operating properly and meet safety standards.
Gas safe registered engineers will undergo an annual property audit upon completion with the issue of a gas safety certificate. We have gas safe engineers here on the landlord’s certificate of ownership who can give you a check.
We are charging a gas safety certificate depending on the London areas. It often lasts from 30 minutes to 1 hour and includes:
• Name and address of the homeowner
• Address of the property
• Date it was checked
• Description and location of each device
• Notes on any faults and how they have been remedied.
• Inspector’s name and signature
Confirmation of results
It is important to record information to be captured, such as a chimney that is not working or a gas fireplace that is not burning properly. The engineer who comes to the inspection can usually close the valve and turn off the appliances. This will be included in the gas safety certificate to indicate that the safety risk has been eliminated by leaving the next step in the home of the property owners – if they want to do something with it or just leave it inactive.
Different types of gas safety certificates
As mentioned earlier, gas safety certificates are useful for different people in different positions, therefore there are different types of gas safety certificates …
• Gas safety certificates for LPG
• Landlord safety certificate
• Commercial gas certificate
• Commercial boiler Service and repair
• Mobile catering service and repair
Gas safety certificates are so important because they protect people who live in houses and long-term landlords because there is a binding document that protects them from potential debt or legal costs in case of problems.
New coronavirus and gas safety certificates
One of the main issues facing landlords and agents in the current situation is how to deal with the inconsistency between the guidelines for avoiding contact with the government and their legal obligations to enter real estate for security checks that are currently related with gas safety certificates, but soon with regard to electrical safety.
If the tenant does not provide access because of the fear of contracting a new coronavirus, or if he or she is isolated with the reasonable belief that he has a coronavirus, such access is therefore inappropriate, it will be really difficult for landlord or agent to fulfill its obligations. In such circumstances, if the government does not amend the Coronavirus Act, the homeowner may violate its gas safety obligations in accordance with the 1998 safety rules (installation and use) or its new electrical safety obligations in accordance with electrical safety requirements. Standards in the Private Leased Sector Regulation (England) 2020, if they could not get the correct safety certificate for a gas or electrical installation.
Failure to comply with gas safety verification rules
If the problem was that it was impossible to obtain a gas safety certificate, the public prosecutor is a specialist in work protection and safety. Their gas-safe website has clear guidelines on when to hold them accountable. This guideline states that they will not be prosecuted if the landlord has taken all reasonable measures to access the audit. This usually requires a series of attempts to indicate the remaining messages and letters. However, a modified version is now being applied. If the tenant is self-insulating, this contact must be established and a gas safety check must be performed when the tenant’s isolation period ends. If the tenant is not ready to grant access, the situation is exactly the same as if the other tenant was not ready to grant access. In this case, the landlord and agent must demonstrate that they have made several attempts to arrange access, they must demonstrate that they have written to the tenant, explaining that the check is in the interest of the tenant and his safety, and ( in the current situation) they must clearly indicate that any Inspection will be conducted in accordance with national regulations and without the need for close contact between the engineer and the tenant. If the tenant still does not grant access, the landlord and the broker have made every effort.
Landlords and agents should also take into account that there is now much more room for gas safety audits as they can now conduct these audits two months earlier and not lose the benefits of a full 12 month original. inspection. In other words, the landlord can conduct a gas safety audit ten months after the previous and up to fourteen audits within fourteen months thereafter. Therefore, they should start the verification process as early as possible and make full use of this additional period. The gas storage register has a regularly updated page with gas inspection instructions that you should know during this period.
The new electrical safety rules have similar obligations, although they have not yet entered into force. In their case, the executing body is the relevant local housing authority, although they are not actually prosecuted in this case. However, they are not obliged to do so and should therefore take into account the feasibility of the proposal in each case. The MHCLG has not yet given relevant instructions to local authorities regarding the imposition of civil penalties in each case, but they are likely to be similar to the civil penalties for other housing offenses.
This guide obliges municipalities to check whether this is in the public interest and whether a fine is imposed. As with the prosecution of gas safety, it is unlikely that it is in the public interest to punish the landlord who has done everything, he has reasonable access to property, but he cannot do it because of the current emergency public health.
Therefore, agents and landlords must now act the same way as at any other time. They should do their best to access the property for security checks. At the same time, they must make clear to the tenants that the engineers will not get close to them and will carry out their checks with minimal intervention. If tenants do not grant access, several attempts must be made and recorded. If tenants are self-insulating or shielding, access must be delayed until the insulation or shielding period has expired.
Alternatively, the problem may be that contractors do not want access to inspection facilities. Government leadership makes it clear that where the tenant himself is isolated, there is a risk of access to his property. However, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason for avoiding property if the tenant doesn’t show any signs of illness, provided that reasonable precautions are taken to minimize contact. The recently updated government directive clearly shows that if work requires someone’s home, traders who have no symptoms can do so. However, if it is difficult for the landlord or broker to find a contractor, he must demonstrate that he has audited several contractors and made every effort to conduct a safety audit.
This is a place of good uncertainty. As the virus is better understood, some of this uncertainty is likely to diminish over time. At the same time, landlords and agents should strive to fulfill their management responsibilities to the best of their ability and keep evidence of situations where they cannot. Actions that can reasonably be postponed without negative consequences, such as non-urgent repair work, should be postponed. In cases where contractors gain access to real estate, landlords and agents must ensure they stay away from tenants, wash their hands before and after they leave the property, and minimize contact.
