What is a CP12 gas safety certificate?
If you let a property with gas in it, this is the certificate you are legally required to hold, and the renewal date does not move.
By Dan, Gas Safe registered engineer4 min read
A CP12 is the gas safety record a landlord is legally required to have for a rented property. It is sometimes called a landlord gas safety certificate or just a gas safety check. Whatever you call it, it is the document proving that every gas appliance and flue in the property was checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer and found safe.
Who needs one
If you rent out a property that has any gas in it, you need one. That includes a gas boiler, a gas fire, a gas cooker or hob, and the flues serving them. It applies whether you are a full-time landlord with a portfolio or you are letting out one flat you used to live in.
If you own and live in the property yourself, you are not legally required to have one. Plenty of people still get the same check done, particularly after moving into a house with a boiler they know nothing about, and that is a sensible thing to do.
How often it has to be renewed
Every twelve months. The date does not move and it does not get extended because the tenant was hard to get hold of. Book it a few weeks before the expiry rather than the week after, because that is when people end up scrambling.
A practical tip for multiple properties
If you have several places, it is worth getting the renewal dates roughly aligned so they all fall around the same part of the year. It turns four separate scrambles into one planned week.
What actually gets checked
- Every gas appliance in the property, and whether it is safe to use.
- That each appliance is burning correctly, with the combustion readings taken and recorded.
- That the flue is clearing the products of combustion properly.
- That ventilation to the appliance is adequate and has not been blocked up.
- That the gas installation pipework is sound.
The results go on the certificate, along with the engineer’s Gas Safe details, and you keep a copy and give one to the tenant.
What happens if something fails
It depends how serious it is. Some findings are advisory, some mean the appliance needs work before it should be used again, and anything immediately dangerous has to be made safe there and then, which can mean capping an appliance off. That is not the engineer being awkward, it is what the classification requires.
What you should get either way is a plain explanation of what is wrong, how serious it is, and a price to put it right before anyone starts. No scare stories, and no pressure to replace something that can be repaired.
A service and a certificate are not the same thing
This one catches people out. A gas safety check tells you the appliance is safe. A boiler service is maintenance to keep it running well and to satisfy the manufacturer’s warranty. They overlap but they are different jobs. Most landlords have me do both in the same visit, which saves arranging tenant access twice.
I do CP12s across Preston, Penwortham, Chorley, Leyland, Garstang and Kirkham. If you have places spread across the patch, tell me where they are and I will be straight with you about which ones I can cover.
Need this doing?
I am Dan, and I cover Preston and the towns around it.