Gas Safety for the public ebook

[Mrs Tara Plumbi]

I was wrong to write there needs to be a CP12 before each new tenant.
I should have said there needs to be a gas check as per acops for Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

Ivor, I totally disagree with you on this.
First of all what does the actual legislations say. 36 3 is about cp12 (as we call it) and it begins by stating: "(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2) above, a landlord shall— "

Which I think means that the LL duties are NOT just a 12 month gas safety check AND that a ll could be prosecuted for failing to fullfill paragraph 2 even if he did everything correctly under para 3 / ll safety check.

para 2 states:

"(2) Every landlord shall ensure that there is maintained in a safe condition—

(a)any relevant gas fitting; and
(b)any flue which serves any relevant gas fitting,
so as to prevent the risk of injury to any person in lawful occupation or relevant premises."

The acop quoted in full above tells us how the LL would do this and the first sentence is the most important
"226 When tenants vacate premises, landlords need to ensure that gas fittings/appliances are safe before re-letting. Tenants may have removed appliances unsafely (eg leaving open-ended pipes, having shut off the emergency control valve), or left their appliances in place. Appropriate checks should be carried out and any unsafe equipment rectified or removed before a new tenancy begins – see also paragraphs 216 and 218. It is also recommended that installation pipework be inspected and tested for soundness before property is re-let."

The legal status of the ACOP is explained at the beginning. It is as good as law unless the LL can show he met his obligations in some other way. The print copy of acops in 1998 which we have says exactly the same thing.
And when i asked Mr TP he told me that in his past experience of working for a maintenance company with contracts for social housing safety checks were done before every new tenancy.

 

[Ivor Bates]

But the only way you could prove it, is by having another CP12 if you relet the property, or am I missing something? So the easiest thing to do, is for the HSE to actually say that, so it is clear and not subject to an individuals interpretation. All that has been written in ACOP over several different sections outlining this could have been compacted down to one clear, non misunderstanding or subject to interpretation sentence. Having worked as a the gas contract administrator for a local authority in London, I'm well aware of how they operate and how they love to squander tax payers money...

 

[CMairiD]

I work in social housing and that's what we do: everything but service on a new tenancy (including mutual exchanges), unless they new tenancy commences within 2 months of the service date and then we would service as well.

We issue a new CP12 simply because there is no other document that that I believe is suitable. I know in an earlier thread that Kirkgas mentioned his company would do a CP4 on void, but I'm not so keen on them because there's no place to record the condition of safety devices.