Boilers Must Be Checked Annually

The UK legal regulations are very detailed when discussing the standard for landlords of rental properties in relation to gas safety. The property has to be inspected for gas safety levels by a Corgi approved engineer. If the landlord does not meet this requirement he or she are liable to a fine of up to 5,000 and up to six months imprisonment.

According to the law, landlords are required to ensure the following:

* Open flue gas appliances should not be located in the same room where people are sleeping, or a bathroom.

* All work relating to the repair, service or installation of gas appliances to be carried out by a CORGI certified engineer.

* All fixed or mobile gas appliances within the property are maintained and their safety is inspected at least once every twelve months. The inspection must be carried out by a CORGI certified engineer.

* All work carried out to any gas appliance within the property must be approved by a set of safety tests conducted by a Corgi approved operative.

* The tenants living in the property must have unrestricted access to all documentation relating to the gas appliances (e.g. manuals for the appliances, safety documents).

*Dates of safety inspections should be noted clearly on a set of records. The records should also include any defects identified and work done on them. The occupiers of the property should have access to these records within 28 days of the inspection or before new tenants are moving into the property.

Landlords should consider installing protection against carbon monoxide poisoning in the rented property. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes between 20 to 30 deaths every year in the UK. Carbon monoxide is a result of an incomplete burning reaction, which creates a combination of carbon with a single oxygen molecule. The gas has no smell, colour or taste and is extremely poisonous, causing asphyxiation and sometimes death. Carbon monoxide can occur when the boiler installation is done poorly, when the flue is poorly designed or installed or is simply blocked.

Landlords have no choice but to ensure that all domestic boilers on the premise are checked and services annually. Large landlords, Local Authorities and Housing Associations find this statutory obligation to cause major concern due to the administrative complexity and logistics difficulty of the gas engineer gaining access to the boiler.

Evidence shows that it is difficult for the Corgi engineer to gain access to the property in cases of large blocks of flats. During business hours, most flat are empty while their occupants are at work. It proved to be difficult to get people to stay at home to wait for the plumber to come and conduct the safety check. Tenants are reluctant to lose a day’s pay in order to stay at home for the landlord to comply with the Regulation.

Landlords, who are obliged to comply with the law, may have to resort to obtaining an entry warrant if the tenant does not co-operate. This can incur additional cost of approximately 500 per dwelling for police attendance and making good.

Tal Potishman, editor of Heating Central, writes articles about boilers, central heating, plumber Blackburn, underfloor heating and solar thermal. He specializes in helping save money by advising on efficient heating.