Landlord gas safety certificate: the rules, and what changes with a heat pump

What the certificate is

The landlord gas safety certificate is the record of an annual gas safety check on a rented property. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) now calls it the landlord gas safety record and notes it was previously called a gas safety record, certificate or CP12 form. People still search for it under all of those names.

The check must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the record carries the engineer’s Gas Safe registration number. Check the registration before you book.

The rule: regulation 36

The duties sit in regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Read on legislation.gov.uk, the main points are:

• each appliance and flue must be checked for safety within 12 months of installation, and then at intervals of not more than 12 months
• the work must be done by someone approved by HSE, which in practice means a Gas Safe registered engineer
• the landlord must keep a record of the check
• an existing tenant must be given a copy within 28 days of the check
• a new tenant must be given a copy of the last record before they occupy the property

The record must include the date of the check, the property address, the landlord’s name and address, a description and location of each appliance or flue checked, any safety defect found, what was done about it, and the engineer’s name, signature and Gas Safe registration number.

Keep the record until two further checks have been made, which means at least two years. HSE guidance says electronic copies are acceptable if the tenant consents, and a paper copy must be provided on request.

What the check does and does not do

The check is a safety inspection of each appliance and its flue, and the record lists any safety defect found and what was done about it. It is a different thing from a boiler service, although many landlords book the two together.

A simple annual routine while you still have gas

Landlords who keep a gas appliance can run the duty as a small yearly routine:

1. Put the check date in your diary a month or two before the 12 months run out. HSE guidance describes a flexibility to carry the check out up to 2 months early, which affects how long you keep the record, so read the HSE page before you rely on it.
2. Book a Gas Safe registered engineer and check the registration number.
3. After the visit, read the record. Confirm it lists each appliance and flue, and notes any defect and the action taken.
4. Send or give a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days, and keep proof of when and how.
5. File the record with the previous ones, so you have at least two years of history.
6. For a new tenancy, give the new tenant the last record before they move in.

A property that sits empty between lets still needs a valid record in place before the next tenant moves in, so do not leave the check until the new tenant is already waiting.

What it costs

The price varies and is set by the engineer or firm, so we do not give a figure. Get more than one quote, and ask whether a repeat visit is charged if a fault is found. The point that matters for this site is simple. The check recurs every year while any gas appliance remains. A property with no gas appliance avoids that annual cost, and we do not put a number on it.

The heat pump angle

A heat pump replaces the boiler. It does not, on its own, remove the gas supply.

The gas safety duty attaches to gas appliances and flues. If the boiler comes out and nothing else that burns gas stays, there is no appliance or flue to check. In practice, many homes keep a gas hob or a gas fire, and each of those keeps the duty in place. Before assuming the duty has ended:

1. List every gas appliance in the property, including hobs, fires and any in a utility room.
2. Decide which stay.
3. If you want the gas supply removed, ask the gas network or a Gas Safe registered engineer how the supply is capped or disconnected, and who pays.
4. Keep your last gas safety record, since you must keep it until two further checks have passed or for two years if the appliance is removed.

Removing the supply is a separate decision with its own cost, and some landlords keep it because the tenant cooks with gas.

A sensible order of work when swapping gas for a heat pump

Keep the sequence tidy so you do not end up with a gas duty you did not intend:

1. Hold the current gas safety record until you decide what happens to each gas appliance.
2. Agree the installer’s scope in writing: does the boiler come out, and does the quote include capping or removing the gas supply, or only the boiler?
3. Decide about the gas hob or fire. If it stays, so does the annual check.
4. Ask a Gas Safe registered engineer to confirm the state in which the gas pipework and any remaining appliance is left, and keep what they give you.
5. Tell the tenant what is changing, including that the hob (if any) still runs on gas.
6. File the final gas safety record, the heat pump paperwork and the new electrical report together.

The point of the list is simple: a heat pump swap is two jobs, the heating and the gas, and each needs its own paper trail.

What stays after the gas goes

Three duties do not depend on gas.

Electrical safety. In the private rented sector in England, the electrical installation must be inspected at intervals of no more than 5 years, and the penalty for breaching the regulations is up to £40,000. A heat pump adds load to the electrical system, so a fresh inspection is sensible around installation. See before you install a heat pump in a rental.

Smoke alarms. At least one smoke alarm must be equipped on each storey where there is a room used as living accommodation, and the landlord must check the alarms work on the first day of a new tenancy.

Carbon monoxide alarms. A carbon monoxide alarm must be equipped in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers. Local authorities can fine up to £5,000 where a landlord fails to comply with a remedial notice. A home with no fixed combustion appliance has no requirement for a carbon monoxide alarm under these regulations. Keeping one is cheap and does no harm, but that is a choice, not a rule.

Gas-specific checks end only when the gas appliances do. Everything else on this list carries on whatever the fuel.

When this is not the right answer

Do not choose a heat pump to escape a gas safety certificate. The saving is small compared with the installed cost. EST says around £12,000 for an air source heat pump before any grant, and the decision turns on running costs, comfort, grants and your EPC position. At the October 2026 cap, electricity is 26.32p per kWh against 7.97p for gas, so many homes pay more to run a heat pump unless it performs well. Read is a heat pump worth it for landlords.

If you keep the gas boiler, put the annual check in your diary and keep every record. If you are replacing it, think about EPC C by 1 October 2030, which is planned but not yet law. The page on EPC C and your heating choice lays out the choices.

Next step

Model your own property in the landlord heat pump calculator. Or send an enquiry and relevant independent firms will contact you, with no charge to you and no obligation.