Being a landlord can be a profitable but stressful business. There is so much responsibility, especially regarding gas safety in your property. As a landlord, you should know your gas safety duties to your tenants.

Many landlords are unaware of what they should know about a gas engineer and this has resulted in tenants becoming seriously ill and even deaths because of badly or illegally fitted gas appliances. It is your property and your responsibility to check the gas engineer is safe and legal to carry out work in your property.

Here is some gas safety advice to follow to provide a safe property for your tenant.

Always use a gas safe registered engineer
You can find one by going onto Gas Safe Register website and using the search tool to find one in your area. When you click on one, it will show a photo of the engineer, his licence number and the appliances they are qualified to work on.

Always ask to see the engineer's card
A Gas Safe registered engineer should always have his card with him. If they don't have one, don't let them work on your property.

Check the card
Don't assume that just because he has a card that he is qualified to work on all gas appliances. On the back of their card there will be a list of all the appliances he can work on legally.

Have all your gas appliances checked annually
This is a requirement by law. After carrying out his checks, the gas engineer will give you a gas safety record. You must give a copy of this to your tenants within 28 days of having it or before they move into your property. You must keep your records for 2 years. You are not obliged to have checks on gas appliances that a tenant owns.

Show your tenants how to turn off the gas at the mains in case of a leak.

Have an audible carbon monoxide alarm fitted
Even with the required gas safety checks things can still go wrong. If a gas appliance is faulty it can produce carbon monoxide fumes which if breathed in can kill! Gas safe register strongly advice that everyone has an audible carbon monoxide alarm fitted in their home. If there is a leak a detector will alert your tenants to the presence of these deadly fumes, saving their lives.

If your property shares a chimney, carbon monoxide fumes can seep into your property. Therefore it is advisable that there is also an alarm in any room where the shared chimney is situated.

If you are unsure about anything, always check with Gas Safe Register.

Steven Fox is from Fox Plumbing Swansea

The top 5 reasons why people choose Fox Plumbing & Heating in Swansea are:
-the service you dream for
-experience matters
-a habit of reliability
-Free quotations
-it's all about you!

Fox Plumbing & Heating serve the Swansea, Gower, Llanelli, Neath, Port Talbot & Ammanford area for plumbing, gas & heating. For more information go to www.foxplumbingswansea.co.uk

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