Hi, please can I have some urgent advise from experienced landlords? I’m a first time landlord and took out a British Gas home care policy which includes having my gas safety certificate check but the earliest they can do this is 3august. However my tenants want to move in on the 12july. I have had the boiler serviced with the last months and have evidence of this but there is also a gas fire in the property that I have asked British Gas to check. I guess my only option is to pay twice and try and get another gas engineer in before the 12july or is the fact the check is booked in august and evidence of a recent boiler service can be provided at all acceptable?
If you have a valid certificate that can be served in advance of them moving in that’s fine.
You don’t need a new certificate for a new tenancy ( this is a recommendation not law) you need to serve a valid certificate.
If you don’t have a valid certificate you must get one and serve it in advance of the contract commencing.
2 Likes
I have a receipt proving my boiler was serviced but is this the same as a gas safety certificate? We have a gas fire which has not been serviced but will be as part of the British Gas checks. However as I mentioned I can’t get British Gas in until the 3rd August and my tenants wanted to be in mid July. This is first time I’m renting my property so have just had the ECP and EICR done but annoyed that British Gas can’t fit m in sooner.
A gas safety certificate is making sure appliances are safe. A service is looking at parts and cleaning and maintaining them to ensure maximum efficiency.
You need the Gas Safety Certificate or else they could probably sue you or you could be fined by the Council.
You have to protect yourself as a landlord, every bugger is out to get you.
If anything gas related happened that caused harm to the tenants, you would be looking at a very harsh punishment.
Just pay to get a gas safety certificate, it’s annoying but no way round it unless you want to put the tenants off until you have the certificate. By phoning around we actually found a very good engineer who was charging half the price of others.
5 Likes
I had an electrician who charged £160 for inspection and certificate and found £500 worth of work to do. I have now found a another who charges £100 per time and did not mind me doing the reccomendations. What a difference . Shop around.
1 Like
A boiler service is not the same as a gas certificate.
A gas certificate covers the gas meter, the system pipework is checked for leaks. and covers all gas appliances and their flues. Gas engineers now check all the smoke, heat and CO alarms as part of the check.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2451/contents/made
A boiler service covers the boiler only.
A gas certificate is a must before a tenant enters property. You are not insured, you probably won’t be able to evict. There is no precedent for not ever having a gas certificate and serving an eviction notice. Personally I don’t think it will be looked upon favourably by the courts.
For £50 why risk it just call any engineer in the yellow pages and book one in.
We pick up a leak in a property every couple of years on our portfolio. Paste between joints degrades etc. We have even had to call out cadent as the meter pipework was corroded.
Your property is your investment why are you willing to put it at risk of blowing up ( that’s why these certificates were introduced in the first place… to stop people dying in boiler explosions. I know of two explosions that happened from faulty boilers when I was at university.)
1 Like
Why British Gas ? get someone else
Sounds like very poor value from BG if you end up having to pay twice for the GSC.
I went for the BG Homecare 4 because it not only covers me for any issues relating to water heating plumbing electrics etc but they do the gas safety and annual boiler service as well. Just didn’t appreciate it would take so long to get an appointment.
1 Like
I agree but went for this because it gave me cover (and the tenant) if anything went wrong with the electrics heating plumbing etc and included an annual boiler service and gas safety certificate. I just didn’t appreciate the earliest BG can offer me an appointment is 3August.
I get that but you must not rent out before a certificate is issued . It can turn sour … Re try BG and explain or get someone else anyway, just so you are not breaking the law
1 Like
In regards to the British Gas policy you have purchased, do you have to take the offer of the GSC at the start of the policy or can you use this service at any point of the contract?
Because if you can use it at any time throughout the year, you could pay for one now and could use the one included in your policy towards the end of the year instead and be covered for 2022.
Gas engineers are now able to do the actual GSC before the old one runs out but preserve the original date.
I think that’s disgraceful that they can’t fit your house in for a test until Aug. I think you will have to pay for another gas test as a boiler service is not the same as a Corgi registered gas certificate.
Hi Dave
you can just ask any heating engineer for a gas safety certificate without a service for about £40-£60.
I think for a first time landlord British Gas services takes the stress out. I think the landlord certificates are extra from BG is about £20 so really you are paying £20-£40 to get the certificate early.
I dont service my boilers every year only get the certificates… especially new boilers
hope this helps… but you can end up with a £30k fine and imprisonment with gas and electrics
take care
Dump BG they are useless and their Engineers don’t give a damn.
2 Likes
totally agree I ALWAYS give my jobs to self employed smaller tradesmen like myself ( 5 ft 6 inch).who care about their reputation. Some I have used for years.
3 Likes
@DaveGroom The amount of regulations and requirements on landlords really does necessitate that you get some Training - awareness BEFORE embarking on what are becoming Ever more onerous ( and financially and even criminally liable ) aspects of renting.
This isn’t meant offensively.
1 Like
Wait till you have an emergency, then you will realise how poor BG are, they furloughed workers rather than deal with the workload, you can also get someone else to do the work and present BG with the bill if they cannot respond quick enough and they will advise you to do this if you contact them, we do it all the time for BG customers.
Don’t just go for the cheapest local person who says they can do gas. Go to the Gas Safe Register and look for a local Gas Safe engineer. You must have a Gas safe Certificate before your tenant moves in, evidence that the boiler has been serviced isn’t enough, legally. Gas safety is very important, this is more than just an inconvenience for landlords. I know someone whose son died of carbon-monoxide poisoning due to a defective boiler flue.
1 Like