Gas safety
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 control the installation and use of gas and place duties mainly on installers, landlords and some gas suppliers. These regulations aim to prevent injury to consumers and the public from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and fire and explosion. Landlords have duties to ensure that the gas appliances and flues they provide for tenants' use are maintained in a safe condition at all times and checked for safety each year by a Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI) registered installer, and a copy of the check record is provided to the tenant.
Practical guidance on the requirements of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 is provided in Safety in the installation and use of gas systems and appliances. Gas Safety (Installation and use) Regulations 1998. Approved Code of Practice and Guidance [priced]. The regulations deal with the safe installation, maintenance and use of gas systems, including gas fittings, appliances and flues mainly in domestic and commercial premises, e.g. offices, shops, public buildings and similar places. They update, consolidate and replace the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994 and subsequent amending regulations. The regulations place responsibilities on a wide range of people, including those installing, servicing, maintaining or repairing gas appliances and other gas fittings, including certain landlords. Contents: Gas fittings - general provisions; Meters and regulators; Installation pipework; Gas appliances; Maintenance and Miscellaneous.
Landlords: a guide to landlords’ duties: Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 [free download] is aimed at landlords and explains some of the main requirements of the regulations. It also gives guidance on how to comply with them. It will also be of interest to tenants, making them aware of landlords' duties. It covers: the type of property covered; main duties as a landlord; gas equipment that is covered; whether duties can be delegated to a tenant; using a managing agent; sub-let property; action required to gain access to property; how to tell whether the gas installer is CORGI registered; when an appliance fails the safety check; what happens if tenants' gas appliances are not maintained; action to take in the event of a gas escape.
The CORGI leaflet Gas safety in rented accommodation: a guide for landlords and tenants [free download] provides guidance on the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. It is designed for the use of landlords and tenants and explains the regulations’ main requirements and how to comply with them. These include landlords’ responsibility for making sure that gas fittings and flues are maintained in good order, that gas appliances they own in their residential premises and flues are checked for safety every 12 months and that records are retained for at least two years. CORGI’s FAQs: Landlords gives answers to landlords’ questions on their duties under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. It specifically deals with the duties of landlords to ensure that gas appliances, fittings and flues provided for tenants' use are safe and annual safety checks.
The HSE website Gas safety: landlords’ responsibilities provides further guidance for landlords, summarising the legal requirements for the installation of gas appliances, safety checks on them, their maintenance, record keeping, duties to tenants, use of managing agents and use only of competent CORGI registered installers. Gas safety FAQs: landlords and letting agents gives answers to 18 frequently-asked questions on landlord’s duties under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
From the same website, Gas safety: tenant responsibilities gives advice to tenants on their responsibilities for allowing access for the maintenance of appliances owned by their landlord and to maintain and have safety checked their own appliances by a CORGI registered installer.
The HSE gas website has a section on domestic gas health and safety, which contains information gas consumers need to know in order to manage gas appliances and equipment safely and tells them what to do in an emergency. It also provides advice for landlords, and letting agents on how to comply with the law
The Health and Safety Executive/Local Authorities Enforcement Liaison Committee (HELA) circular The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 [free web access] summarises the main changes introduced by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, which came into force on 31 October 1998; and their effects on enforcement.
Guidance on the health risks that may result from exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) in the workplace is provided in Carbon monoxide: health hazards and precautionary measures [priced]. It gives advice on the precautions employers may need to take to prevent or control exposure as required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH). It is primarily aimed at employers and managers. However, other groups such as employee safety representatives, health and safety professionals and employees may also find this guidance useful. Contents: Occurrence and properties; Effects on health; Exposure to carbon monoxide – particular hazards; Assessment of health risks; Prevention and control of exposure; Monitoring exposure; Health surveillance; First aid; Information, instruction and training.
In 2001, HSE issued the results of Contract Research Report 360/2001 Joint industry project on carbon monoxide issues: Long-term reliability of domestic CO alarms. Since that report, the trials have continued for a further two years, supported by HSE funding. Continued appraisal of domestic CO alarms [free download] supplements the earlier report and sets out the findings for the alarms tested throughout the project, as a whole. Contents: Initial assessments; Field trial results; Discussion; Conclusions; Recommendations.
Gas appliances: get them checked - keep them safe! [free download] provides guidance for all people who use domestic gas appliances. It warns of the dangers of poor installation and servicing, and describes telltale signs of malfunctioning and therefore potentially dangerous appliances. Contents: The problem; The answers; The law; Further information.
Communities Scotland, Regulation and Inspection, in Gas safety matters [free download] reported that R&I inspections of 36 councils and RSLs found that gas safety was one of the weaker areas in inspected landlords’ performance and that overall landlord performance is a poor predictor of performance in the management of gas safety. The report highlights findings from those inspections and provides advice and examples of positive practice from Scotland and England to help landlords manage gas safety in their houses.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations publishes SFHA Good Practice Guide - Housing Associations Duties as Landlords: Procedures for Access to undertake Annual Gas Safety Inspections [Full-text not available on website. £6.00 members, £18.00 non-members]. This good practice guide provides housing associations with good practice recommendations for carrying out their annual gas safety inspections.
Gas safety: a matter of life or death (Anon. IN Environmental Health News, Vol 20 No 2, 14 Jan 2005, pp. 6–7) notes that, although fewer fatalities are occurring due to carbon monoxide leaks in residential accommodation, there is no room for complacency. It explains how local authorities can make a valuable contribution to increasing safety in this and other sectors when it comes to gas safety. It also explains that tenants should be told that they are responsible for maintaining any gas appliances that they own and officers should check that gas appliances in work premises enforced by local authorities are regularly maintained.
