We had a tenant accidentally leave her hob on and unlit overnight. The CO detector in the kitchen caught this and went off, alerting her to the fact. She called in the gas board and their engineer recommended that, although she had admitted liability, all the gas appliances (hob, oven, boiler) should be checked before she could use them again. I spoke to him over the phone while he was visiting and we agreed that although this wasn’t a legal requirement, it was prudent. The T agreed to pick up the cost of the check.
This happened on a Saturday afternoon so my usual gas engineer couldn’t get there until after the weekend. The tenant decamped to her mum’s around the corner while we waited.
Our engineer has since visited and she’s back in after the check revealed no issues with any appliance. However, I was expecting an actual gas safety certificate to be issued as the next one isn’t actually due until September. However, when I wrote to the engineer requesting a copy they said
We didn’t do a certificate, we carried out a gas safety check on appliances to ensure they were all okay but did not do a gas certificate at this property. I left the boiler readings with tenant
Am I being overcautious to expect a certificate as proof that all is well in that property or does this email response cover me?
A note to LLs: had that CO detector not been there and checked by me as working during one of my quarterly inspections only the week before, I would have a dead tenant on my hands. Pls make sure you have them installed and checked where you need them.
There was a court case a year or so ago that ruled that an additional gas safety checks was needed if a new gas appliance was installed, but I dont think it could be applied to this circumstance. You should ensure you have something in writing from the gas engineer though and if not, a new GSC may be worthwhile.
Glad to hear the tenant is okay, but it’s worth noting that a standard CO detector actually can’t detect raw, unlit gas. It only picks up carbon monoxide, which is a byproduct of gas that is already burning. If the alarm really did go off while the hob was unlit, it was either a fluke, a very specific multi-sensor alarm, or there’s a separate issue with the boiler. Relying on a CO alarm to catch a gas leak is dangerous because they just aren’t designed for it; the “rotten egg” smell is still the best warning.
Also, if the gas was able to flow all night without a flame, that hob is likely an older model without a Flame Failure Device. On any modern appliance, the gas would have automatically cut off within about a minute of being left unlit. Rather than worrying about the certificate, it’s probably worth just upgrading the hob to a modern one with FFDs. It’s a cheap fix that makes it physically impossible for a tenant to accidentally leave the gas running overnight again.
Just pointing out a CO detector does not detect raw gas, and any gas hob installed after around 2008 has to have an FFD (Flame Failure Device) by UK law. Also, you wouldn’t normally have a CO detector directly in a kitchen with a hob, as steam and cooking fumes can cause false alarms or damage the sensor—they’re usually placed at least a few metres away for that reason.
It really sounds like you got lucky this time, but a modern hob with FFDs is the only actual way to stop that happening again. If you’re mainly worried about the paperwork, an email or job sheet from a Gas Safe engineer stating the appliances are okay is usually sufficient evidence that you took all reasonable steps after the incident.
