Gas Safety Certificate for Landlords - advice needed

[Mikefromlondon]

As a Landlord, one needs a Gas safety certificate in place before the tenants can move in, this is to meet certain tenancy obligation from the law point of view.

Question is, can a Gas Safety certificate be issued if any unsafe gas appliances are sealed off and gas disconneced to these defective appliances, by a qualified Gas safe Registered engineer,and any appropriate warning signs placed on faulty applainces, such that the tenant is aware of such like and must not try and bring any such faulty applainces in use.

Appliance in question is a faulty or dangerous warm air heating unit.

When a Gas safe registered engineer seals off such a device, and disconnects it from the gas supply line physically, either by capping it from the gas supply in the cupboard or by capping it at the Gas meter, since there is no Gas cooker, so cooking and hot water willnot get effected, only the gas heating will be sealed off and alternative electric heaters willbe supplied until such time as a new central heating is installed later in summer.

Therefore can he then issue a safety certifiacte as required by law for any landlord, as it is illegal for any landlord to let a premises without a valid safety certificate.

I am under the impression that a Safety certificate is only issued AND required when any gas appliance present or installed on any premises must be fully functional and pass all safety tests and only then a safety certificate can be issued by Gas Safe Engineer.

But according to another reliable source, nope, a Gas safety certificate can be issued despite a faulty applaince and it must be sealed off, and so a safety certifiacte must be in position all the time regardless of whether there are gas appliances in use or otherwise, since a house may still be connected to gas supply and so the safety certificate must cover all pipe work and gas meter as part of gas safety, hence the need for one in place even if the applinces are sealed off and or totally removed from premises, so as long as there is a gas meter, weather or not gas is in use, the property must have a safety certificate.

Please kindly clarify this matter. And has any of you issued such safety certificates to landlords where faulty or defective applainces have been sealed off.

 

[Dan Robinson]

any property with a live gas meter MUST have an annual gas safety certificate issued regardless of the condition of the appliances in the property.

if an appliance is present and disconnected it is simply marked as such on the certificate.

They are not pass or fail as such. they are more a snap shot in time. There must be one. The visiting engineer should issue one. If he is not paid, then don't expect one (the nub of the issue I suspect). IUf he is paid, the he must isue it regardless of the state of the appliances, which he would have dealt with according to the rules and regs which we all know you have an encyclopaedic knowledge of anyway.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Thanks Dan,it is a great deal of relief, I was genuinely under the impression that it can only be issued upon all appliances in fully functional and safe condition. So I will organise a Gas Safe engineer to seal off permanently rather than just turning off the gas at the meter and at the local isolating valve in the warm air cupboard, as I have toget one in place before the current one runs out end of the month.

Sadly it is time to say goodbye to its nearly 25 year old Johnson & Starley J25-32 (Mk1) warm air heating, and now it is time to get the latest condensing combi boiler installed by a qualified fitter and never to worry so much about flue gasses spilling out and tenants blocking off permanent vents in winter months to stop cold air coming in! Despite being warned not to block these vents!

 

[Dan Robinson]

You are doing the right thing Mike - WAU's are the spawn of Satan. Your tenants will appreciate it


Tenants are inherently stupid. It is one of the universal constants.

As an example.... We fitted a nice new InterCombi HE32 a few months ago. Right next to the kitchen sink and gas meter. Yesterday I get messages complaining that the boiler was faulty in hot water mode.

Of course it is the brand new very expensive boiler!?!?!?

Plumber turns up under a little guidance from us and it turns out that the fault is actually only apparent on the shower. Bath, Basin and kitchen are perfectly OK.

So of course it is the expensive, newly installed high end boiler, fitted by one of the manufacturer's "Partners".

Tenants eh?

 

[Mikefromlondon]

There you go! problemwith a shower then.

One previous tenant asked me for a permission to install his own bath mixer shower taps, so I gave him the permission, at his expense, but warned him it may not work as the hot water storage tank did not have enough head height and the shower may not work, still he went ahead and only to find that it didn't work!

So after a coupleof years later, he moved out, new tenants came in, and within a week they complained oh my shower is not working! so they asked me to get it fixed!

I had to go out of my way and get a shower pump installed! Thanks to one previous tenant!

 

[Agile]

I am not certain that Dan is necessarily correct.

In my view a Gas Cert may not be required if the meter outlet has been sealed off as the shipper will do if an unsafe situation is found.

If Dan is right, to avoid the need for a gas cert the meter could be removed. But its the shipper's property so it should not be removed from the property.

Regardless, practically speaking, I dont expect a tenant or agency will expect a cert with no gas appliances in use.

If asked to do a gas cert with no appliances I would charge half price!

But do you have an electrical cert and an EPC ?????

 

[Mikefromlondon]

correct me if I am wrong, the Gas Safety Checks are mandatory only for the private Landlords, and not for every home owner.

As for the EPC and Electrical Safety check, the agent did send someone around, and I was charged for it, but what was the outcome I have no idea or what EPC rating it achieved, good point I will ask the agent to provide me with a copy of that EPC certificate.

As for the electrical safety check, I am sure it was conducted a few years back and the installation was tested to be safe with one reccomendation that an RCD should be fitted to the bathroom shower pump supply which was installed under the bath tub and wired to a nearest socket on the first floor ring mains through seperate 3A fused spur.

 

[Agile]

All properties with a paying tenant or lodger need a gas cert if there are gas appliances used. That needs renewing every year.

Its usually thought an elect cert lasts for five years.

I think an EPC may be needed with every new letting.

 

[gas112]

You cannot remove a meter and just leave it laying around in a house ,cannot believe you suggest this .

 

[Dan Robinson]

He didn't...

 

[gas112]

Yes he did he said .
Meter could be removed but because its the shippers property it should not be removed from the premises

 

[Dan Robinson]

Not the same in my view.

 

[gas112]

Not the same as what ? .
A meter cannot be removed and just left on the premises

 

[Dan Robinson]

No - I just didn't read the post the same way.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I think what he means is the meter could be removed and the incoming pipe sealed securely, or taken out from the street Gas mains, which would be the task only undertaken by the National Grid or their appointed contractors such as Transco. But they wouldn't do this just because a landlord doesn't want to be subjected to regular safety checks, this would be possible if a building was being demolished for reconstruction etc.