Gas and Electrical Safety for Landlords

A landlord gas safety certificate (CP12, legally a gas safety record) proves a Gas Safe registered engineer has checked every gas appliance, fitting and flue you provide within the last 12 months. Give existing tenants a copy within 28 days of the check and new tenants before they move in. Electrics need an EICR at least every five years.

Updated 2 November 2026. Applies to England unless stated.

Gas safety rules apply across Great Britain. The electrical rules on this page are England’s; Wales and Scotland have their own versions, summarised near the end.

Gas and electrical safety are the two duties where a lapse can injure someone. They are also the two certificates you will need for England’s PRS database from December 2026. Get the system right once and both run on autopilot.

Gas safety: the landlord’s duties

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place three duties on landlords of residential lets.

1. Maintain gas appliances, fittings and flues you provide in a safe condition. HSE says appliances should be serviced in line with the manufacturer’s instructions, or annually if there are none.
2. Check each appliance and flue every 12 months, using a Gas Safe registered engineer.
3. Record each check and give a copy to tenants.

These duties cannot be passed to a tenant through the tenancy agreement. A managing agent can arrange the work, but you remain responsible.

The annual check and the two-month window

Before a new tenancy starts, the most recent check must fall within the previous 12 months. Since 2018, regulation 36A lets you carry out the check up to two months early and keep the original anniversary date.

That means a check done in month 10 or 11 does not pull your cycle forward. Keep the record until two further checks have been carried out; this applies whether or not the check was early.

What the gas safety record must show

• the appliances and flues checked, and where they are;
• the engineer’s name, Gas Safe registration number and signature;
• the date of the check and the property address;
• your name and address, or your agent’s;
• any safety defects found and the remedial action taken.

Electronic records are fine if they can be printed, are secure and identify the engineer.

Giving the record to tenants

Existing tenants must receive a copy within 28 days of the check. New tenants must have it before they move in. You can send it electronically if the tenant agrees and can access it, but you must provide paper if they ask.

Keeping records

Keep the record until two further checks of that appliance or flue have been carried out. If the appliance or flue is removed, keep the record for two years from its last check. Apply this rule whether or not the check was early.

When the tenant will not give access

You cannot force entry. HSE expects you to show you took all reasonable steps, which in practice means:

• leaving a notice with your contact details after a missed visit;
• writing to explain the check is a legal requirement for their safety and offering appointments;
• keeping a record of every attempt and letter.

Inspectors look for repeated attempts. Our planned gas check access guide covers this in detail.

Tenant-owned appliances and defects

Tenants are responsible for their own gas appliances and any flue serving only those appliances. HSE recommends including every flue connected to a gas appliance in your check anyway.

Any defect must be fixed by a Gas Safe engineer before the appliance is used again. Never reconnect an appliance an engineer has marked unsafe.

For a deeper walkthrough, see our planned guides to the gas safety certificate and gas certificate costs.

Electrical safety: the EICR duty

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to new tenancies from 1 July 2020 and all existing tenancies from 1 April 2021.

What you must do

1. Have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified and competent person.
2. Get a written report (the EICR) and give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days of the inspection.
3. Give new tenants a copy before they move in, and prospective tenants within 28 days of a request.
4. Give the council a copy within 7 days if it asks.
5. Keep a copy to hand to the inspector at the next inspection.
6. Complete any required remedial or investigative work within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so.
7. Obtain written confirmation of completion and the result. Within 28 days of completion, supply it together with a copy of the electrical report to each existing tenant and the local housing authority. If further work is required, follow the statutory process again.

Councils can impose financial penalties of up to £40,000 for breaches.

EICR codes explained

Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory until the work is done. Our planned guides cover the EICR, EICR codes and EICR remedial work in more depth.

Portable appliances

The 2020 Regulations focus on the fixed installation. Appliances you supply must still be safe, and keeping a record of checks shows you took care. Our planned PAT testing guide sets out when testing makes sense. In Scotland, the repairing standard requires appliances the landlord supplies to be regularly inspected.

Gas and electrical documents at a glance

Carbon monoxide and smoke alarms

Gas safety links directly to alarm duties. In England, any room used as living accommodation with a fixed combustion appliance needs a carbon monoxide alarm. That includes gas and oil boilers and log burners, but not gas cookers.

Every storey used as living accommodation needs at least one smoke alarm. Test both on the day a new tenancy begins and repair or replace any alarm reported faulty. Our landlord compliance checklist covers alarms alongside every other duty.

HMOs

Gas and electrical duties apply in full to HMOs, but licence conditions and fire safety requirements can go further than the baseline rules. Read your licence conditions carefully and diary any certificate the council asks you to supply. Our planned HMO safety guide will cover this.

Gas and electrical certificates and PRS registration

England’s PRS database opens on 15 December 2026, region by region. For each property you must provide evidence of a gas safety certificate (where there is a gas supply), an electrical safety certificate and an EPC.

You can supply them with the property record or within 28 days of submitting it. If you do not, the property registration may be deactivated. Our guide to the documents needed for landlord registration sets out the full list.

New tenancy safety checklist

Run through these steps before every new tenant moves in. Each one is a legal requirement in England.

1. Confirm the gas safety check is less than 12 months old, or book a new one.
2. Confirm the EICR is in date and any remedial work from the last report is complete and confirmed in writing.
3. Check there is a smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation and a CO alarm in every room with a fixed combustion appliance.
4. Test every alarm on the day the tenancy begins and record the test, ideally on the inventory the tenant signs.
5. Hand over the gas safety record and EICR before the tenant moves in, and keep proof you did.
6. Diary the next gas check and EICR dates, with reminders well before each deadline.

Common gas and electrical mistakes

• Letting the gas check slip past 12 months. Book at month 10 and use the two-month window instead of chasing an engineer in the final week.
• Forgetting the 28-day handover. The check is done, but the tenant never receives the record. Send it the day you get it.
• Treating an EICR as satisfactory when it is not. A single C2 or FI means remedial work is due within 28 days.
• Not confirming completed work. The written confirmation to the tenant and council is a separate duty from doing the work.
• Losing the paper trail. Records spread across emails, engineers’ portals and a filing cabinet are hard to produce quickly when a council or tenant asks.
• Assuming the agent has it covered. You remain responsible. Ask for copies of every certificate and keep your own record.

Why the paperwork matters beyond fines

Councils enforce electrical safety with penalties of up to £40,000, and gas safety offences can be prosecuted. But the bigger cost is often indirect.

From December 2026, missing certificates can hold up PRS database registration. Incomplete records weaken your position in a possession claim or a tribunal hearing. And insurers may ask for evidence after a fire or gas incident. Keeping every record in one place protects you on all three fronts.

Wales and Scotland

Wales: the gas rules are the same. Electrics must be tested at least every five years to BS 7671, and the contract-holder gets the EICR within 14 days of occupation or of the inspection. Written confirmation of any repairs follows within 14 days.

Scotland: the repairing standard requires an annual gas check by a Gas Safe engineer and an electrical inspection by a registered electrician at least every five years. The installation needs an RCD, and landlord-supplied appliances must be safe and regularly inspected.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.