Landlord gas safety certificates (CP12) in Watford

The check and the service on one visit

Most landlords we work for want two things done each year on the same boiler: the safety check the law requires, and the annual service. Booked separately, that means two appointments, two lots of arranging access with the tenant, and paying twice for someone to open the same case.

We recommend doing both on the same visit, because it works out cheaper than two separate ones. One engineer does the service while the boiler is already open for the safety check, so none of the work is repeated, your tenant only has to be in for us once, and the service paperwork and the gas safety record both come out of that one visit.

What the engineer checks

The regulations set out what every examination must cover: whether the flue works, whether the appliance gets enough air to burn safely, its operating pressure or heat input, and whether it operates safely. HSE does not publish a step-by-step checklist beyond that, so here is what Andrew and Elis check on each appliance:

• A visual check of the appliance and how it is installed.
• The flue, checked visually along its route and at the terminal outside.
• Case integrity. On a room-sealed boiler, the case and its seals have to be intact, or combustion products can get into the room.
• Gas inlet pressure, measured at the appliance.
• Gas rate, the amount of gas the appliance actually burns, checked against the manufacturer's figure.
• Ventilation, where the appliance needs it. Anything that draws its air from the room needs a permanent vent of the right size.
• A spillage test, where it applies. On an open-flued appliance such as an older gas fire or back boiler, it confirms the fumes are going up the flue and not into the room.

Since 1 October 2022, landlords in England must fit a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation with a fixed combustion appliance, gas cookers excepted. That duty sits alongside the gas safety check rather than inside it.

What you get, and what you have to do with it

At the end of the check you get the record. HSE sets the minimum it must contain: each appliance and flue checked and where it is, the engineer's name, Gas Safe number and signature, the date, the property address, your name and address (or your agent's), and any defect found with the action taken. One record normally covers the whole property.

Then the law puts four things on you:

• Give existing tenants a copy within 28 days of the check.
• Give new tenants a copy before they move in. A record that is less than 12 months old can be copied to the next tenancy.
• Keep each record for at least two years.
• Book the next check within 12 months.

An electronic copy is fine if your tenant is happy with it, but they can ask for paper and you must give it.

Less well known is the 2-month early window. Since 2018, you can have the check done up to two months before it is due and keep the original anniversary date, so booking early does not steadily pull your renewal date forward. The catch is that you then keep that record until two further checks have been done, so you can prove the dates.

If the engineer finds a fault, the record is still issued on the day with the defect written on it. HSE calls it a living document: you add what was done to put it right. An appliance we find to be dangerous gets made safe and is not used until it is repaired, and HSE expects you to provide emergency heating if the heating is switched off in the meantime.

Portfolio landlords and letting agents

With several properties, the work that eats your time is keeping a dozen anniversary dates straight and arranging access for each one.

If the properties are within a reasonable distance of each other, we can do several on the same day, and the 2-month early window lets you line renewals up without losing any anniversary date. The certificates come back to you together. Giving each tenant their copy, keeping the records and booking the next check are then down to you, because the law places those duties on the landlord. Where you manage on behalf of an owner, the record can carry your agency's name and address instead, which HSE allows.

Blocks of flats need one more step. If the building has a communal boiler or shared flue, you must be able to show it is checked, usually through the freeholder or managing agent. Get that evidence to us before the visit and it goes on file with your record.

What it costs

A landlord gas safety certificate is £110 plus VAT. There is no call-out fee. Having the annual boiler service done at the same time costs less than booking it as a separate visit. If the check finds something that needs repairing, that is priced separately, and we tell you the figure before anything is done.

Ring 07970 632 064 or book online with the address and the appliances in the property.

Where we cover

Our base is on Granville Road in WD18, and we carry out landlord gas safety checks all over Hertfordshire. In Watford, 28.2% of households rent privately, against 20.3% across England and Wales at the 2021 Census. Around Stanmore, private renting runs above the national average in all four HA7 wards.

We also do landlord checks in Bushey, Oxhey, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Stanmore, Northwood, Berkhamsted and St Albans, and across the rest of the areas we cover. If you want the boiler work beyond the annual service, our boiler page covers repairs and replacements.

Andrew Millward and Elis Harizi do the work themselves, with no subcontractors. Both carry their Gas Safe card, and you can check registration 586325 on the Gas Safe Register before we arrive.