The Benefits of Digital/Electronic Gas Safety Certificates

A Gas Safety Certificate is a mandatory document for all landlords in the UK. It is commonly known as the CP 12 Certificate. It is a legal requirement for all landlords under the prevailing gas safety regulations.

Using gas for domestic and non-domestic purposes has been a common practice for a long time, almost everywhere in the world, including the UK. Despite its popularity as a reliable energy source, it has some serious potential risks, like explosions and emissions. Over the years, many gas accidents have occurred, causing injuries, deaths, and loss of property and assets.

The increasing number of such incidents compelled the use of gas under some legal framework. Resultantly, the Government of the UK enforced a comprehensive law, titled "Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.” One of the provisions of this law legally binds landlords to get a Gas Safety Certificate for their rented properties after conducting a gas safety inspection on an annual basis.

Understanding Gas Safety Regulations

The basic law governing the use of gas in the UK was promulgated in 1998, commonly referred to as Gas Safety Regulations 1998. This law has been amended since then to make it more effective. For a better understanding of what the law requires from the landlords and tenants, here's a summary of the main provisions of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended from time to time:

• Landlords are responsible for ensuring the safety of their tenants against the possible risks and threats associated with gas, such as fire, explosion, and the emission of harmful carbon monoxide.
• The law binds the landlords to conduct annual gas safety checks on their properties.
• Only a gas safe registered engineer is authorized to conduct a gas safety inspection on gas appliances and allied pipework.
• The annual gas safety inspection should include all gas installations and appliances, including boilers and flues.
• After completing the annual gas safety check, the gas-safe registered engineer will produce a gas safety certificate.
• If one or more gas appliances are found unfit, they will be labeled as "Do Not Use." In such cases, the landlords are required to get them repaired or replaced as soon as possible. They are also bound not to use such appliances until the fault is removed and the appliance is declared fit for use by the gas-safe registered engineer.
• Gas safety certificates, also known as gas safety records, will remain valid for 12 months. It must be renewed within the last two months of the expiry of the current certificate.
• A registered gas engineer can conduct a gas safety check to renew a certificate within the last two months of its validity.
• The landlords are bound to provide a copy of the gas safety certificate to their current tenants within 48 hours and 28 days to their new tenants.
• Tenants can install and use their private gas appliances per their requirements. These appliances will not fall under the landlords' responsibility for annual gas safety checks, restricted to only the gas appliances installed in the rented property. The tenants are responsible for ensuring the safety of such appliances on their own. However, the gas safety engineer may also check these appliances during annual inspections.
• If any of the installed gas appliances develop a fault at any time, the landlord must get them fixed or replaced on a case-by-case basis. Tenants must inform the landlords about any such happening, preferably in writing.
• The landlords are also responsible for the routine maintenance and servicing of gas appliances, boilers, and flues, but only for those installed by them. Any gas appliance installed by the tenant will remain his sole responsibility.

The gas safety certificate shows that the property has been inspected for gas safety. Hence, landlords must keep the valid gas safety certificate in safe custody and produce it whenever required.

Digital / Electronic Gas Safety Certificates

Traditionally, gas safety certificates were issued in paper form and physically signed by the inspecting engineer. The engineer then provided the landlord with a hard copy of the certificate, which the landlord was expected to keep in safe custody for at least two years.

With technological advancement, most documents are gradually being converted to paperless forms. So, virtual, digital, and electronic records replace conventional paper-based documents. The same has happened with gas safety certificates. Resultantly, digital gas safety certificates quickly replaced traditional paper-based gas safety certificates.

Digital or electronic gas safety certificates are beneficial in many ways for both engineers and consumers.

What are the Benefits of Digital/Electronic Gas Safety Certificates?

Technology has made it easy to create, update, and preserve things from the comfort of your home or office. It has made so many documents paperless. The digital gas safety certificate is one of the most relevant examples of truly paperless documentation. It has provided relief to landlords and engineers in many ways. Let’s see how.

Benefits of Digital Gas Safety Certificates for Landlords

Preserving a paper-based document is quite a difficult task. It needs a lot of storage capacity to keep the documents safe. Finding the relevant document at any stage would be even more difficult. Additionally, losing or missing the most essential document is always risky. It may be damaged or lost while shifting your residence. A gas safety certificate is one of these important documents as these are also a legal requirement for landlords.

Digitalizing the gas safety certificate has provided much relief and benefit to the landlords, as summarized below:

• They are no longer required to store the paper-based gas safety certificates in safe custody.
• The digital gas safety certificate can easily be stored on mobile devices and laptops.
• Since it can be stored in multiple devices, there is almost zero chance of losing it.
• You can print a digital gas safety certificate at any time if the need arises.
• It always remains in your access, even if you are traveling.
• Above all, it provides peace of mind, as there is no risk of loss, theft, or damage under unforeseen circumstances.

So, always opt for a digital gas safety certificate.

Benefits of Digital Gas Safety Certificates for Gas Gas-Safe Engineers

Traditionally, a gas-safe registered engineer has to spend a lot of time on paperwork to make a gas safety certificate. He used to spend quite a considerable time in the office to record the findings and other details to create the required gas safety certificates for his clients.

With advanced technologies, they now have the facility of creating a gas safety certificate digitally using relevant software and applications. Here are some of the benefits of doing so:

• The gas-safe registered engineer is no longer required to spend much time compiling and recording the data on paper. A paper document would mostly be handwritten and may look unprofessional. A digitally created gas safety certificate would be presentable as a professionally produced document.
• The engineer traditionally prepared three copies of the gas safety certificate manually, requiring more time and energy. The available software can now be created and transmitted to the recipients with just a few clicks.
• A digital certificate can be signed digitally instead of making a manual certificate and getting it signed by the relevant persons. This can save a lot of time and energy.
• The engineer has the facility to create customized digital gas safety certificates for each customer.

Conclusion

Technology is always beneficial for the users and stakeholders. The old conventional ways of accomplishing a task get redundant with time. More easy ways of completing a job take on the old methods. The gas safety certificates have gradually transformed into digital gas safety certificates. The technology-based digital certificates have quickly replaced the old conventional paper documents.

Digitalized gas safety certificates are easy to create and transmit to the relevant recipients. They are paperless, so there is no need for extra space to keep them safe. A digital certificate can be stored on multiple devices, like mobile phones or laptops, so there's hardly any chance of theft, damage, or loss.