Do landlords in Worthing need an annual gas safety check?
Yes - landlords letting residential property are required by law to have an annual gas safety check on all gas appliances and flues they provide, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
This applies to any residential letting, including properties in Worthing, and covers every gas appliance and flue the landlord provides for the tenant's use, not just the boiler. HSE cites this duty as arising from the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, Regulation 36(1). Before a new tenancy starts, the check must have been carried out within the 12 months preceding the tenancy start date.
How often does the gas safety check need repeating?
The regulation requires each appliance or flue to be checked within 12 months of installation and at intervals of no more than 12 months after that.
The exact statutory wording, from Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, requires an appliance or flue to be "checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked." This is more precise than the common shorthand of an annual check, and is worth quoting exactly if timing is ever in question.
What has to happen with the gas safety record once it's done?
Landlords must issue the record to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in, and must keep records for a set minimum period.
An electronic copy is acceptable if the tenant agrees to receive it that way, but a paper copy must be provided if the tenant requests one. Records must be kept until there have been two further annual checks, or, for an appliance or flue that's been removed from the premises, for two years from the date of the last check on it - a more precise standard than the common shorthand of simply keeping it for two years.
What happens if a landlord doesn't comply?
Breach of the landlord gas safety duty is a criminal offence, enforced by HSE and local housing authorities, and the duty cannot be transferred to the tenant.
HSE's own guidance describes the consequences as ranging from prosecution and unlimited fines through to imprisonment in serious cases. The duty to arrange the checks sits with the landlord specifically - it can't be handed off to the tenant, including in subletting situations, so a tenant subletting a room doesn't inherit the landlord's legal responsibility.
