Landlord gas safety on Teesside: the CP12 explained

What the law asks of you

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 place the duty on whoever lets the property. Each gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked for safety at intervals of no more than 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The installation and appliances must be maintained in a safe condition, which is a continuous duty rather than an annual one. And the resulting record must reach your tenants: within 28 days of the check for sitting tenants, and at the start of the tenancy for new ones. Keep copies for two years. The duty follows the appliance you supplied, so a tenant's own cooker is theirs, though the pipework and flue serving it remain yours.

What the engineer actually checks

• Gas tightness of the whole installation, tested at the meter.
• Operating pressure and gas rate at each appliance, against the manufacturer's data.
• Flue performance, including a spillage test and combustion readings where the appliance type allows.
• Ventilation, because sealed-up air bricks are one of the most common defects found in older rented terraces.
• Safety devices proved to operate, and the general condition and stability of the appliance.
• Alarms noted: carbon monoxide alarms are required in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance under English rental rules, and their presence is worth recording.

Defect classifications, and what they mean for you

Where something is wrong, the engineer classifies it. Immediately Dangerous means the appliance presents a risk right now and, with permission, it is disconnected and labelled. At Risk means one or more defects could make it dangerous and, again with permission, it is turned off until fixed. Not to Current Standards is a note rather than a danger, typical of older installations that were compliant when fitted. In practice a failed check means a repair or a replacement and then a fresh record, and a tenant left without heating or hot water needs that arranged quickly rather than at your leisure.

The annual cycle, run properly

The commonest landlord mistake is letting the anniversary drift. The rule is a maximum of 12 months, so booking at month 11 protects you and stops the date creeping later each year. It is legitimate to have the check done up to two months before the current record expires and keep the original expiry date, which is how portfolio landlords group several properties into one engineer visit. Diary the date, keep the records digitally as well as on paper, and hand a copy to your letting agent if they manage compliance for you, since the duty stays with you regardless of who books the appointment.

When a tenant will not let anyone in

Access problems are real and the duty does not disappear because of them. Give proper written notice, offer alternative dates including evenings, explain in the letter that this is a legal safety check for their protection, and keep every attempt on file with dates. A documented trail of reasonable attempts is the defence if you are ever asked why a check was late, and it is also what a court will want to see if the situation escalates to seeking access. Never let it slide silently into a second year.

Teesside specifics worth knowing

Much of the local rented stock is pre-1980 terraced housing in central Middlesbrough, Gresham, North Ormesby, Grangetown and older parts of Hartlepool and Redcar, which means two things. First, a live gas fire in the front room alongside the boiler is common, so budget for two appliances and book them into one visit. Second, these houses often have hard-water scaled combis and sludged systems, so a check that keeps flagging the same appliance is telling you something. At that point a replacement plus a system clean usually costs less over two years than repeated callouts and an unlettable property mid-winter.

Certificate and service are not the same thing

The gas safety record documents safety on the day of the check. A service cleans and tests the appliance so that it keeps working and keeps its manufacturer warranty valid. Doing both in one attendance is the sensible landlord habit, and it costs meaningfully less than two visits. Certificate pricing and bundle detail sits on the CP12 page, and service detail on the servicing page.