What Landlords Should Do After a Gas Safety Certificate Failure

Getting a gas safety certificate is a legal obligation for every landlord in the UK. For this purpose, the landlords must arrange gas safety inspections on all the gas appliances installed in their properties. The gas safety certificate is issued, on successful completion of the gas safety inspection.

However, there are so many instances where a property fails the annual gas safety inspection. Per some survey reports, the ratio of failed gas safety inspections is quite high. On average, every sixth gas appliance fails the annual gas safety check for one reason or another. Mostly, the reason behind a failed gas safety certificate is a lack of proper maintenance or non-professional installation. 

Hence, every landlord may have to face such a situation on one or more occasions. On the other hand, the prevailing gas safety regulations make landlords responsible for ensuring the safety of people and properties against the potential threats of gas accidents. Therefore, the landlords must know the consequences of a failed gas safety inspection. They also need to know what to do in case of a failed gas safety inspection.

Gas Safety Check – An Insight

Under the provisions of the basic gas safety law, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended from time to time, the landlords are legally required to arrange an annual gas safety inspection on all the gas appliances and installations in their properties. This is a pre-requisite for getting a valid gas safety certificate, which will remain effective for 12 months.

A gas safety certificate would be considered valid only when all the gas appliances are rated “safe for use” or “fit for use.” If one or more appliances are rated as “not safe for use” or “not fit for use,” gas safety inspection is considered “failed” or “unsuccessful.” 

The process of annual gas safety inspection comprises of following essential steps:

• Only a gas safe registered engineer is authorized to conduct the annual gas safety inspection
•  The engineer will visually examine all the gas appliances and allied pipework, including flues and boilers, installed on the property.
• He will check the entire pipework to detect any damaged or rusty parts. He is also responsible for detecting rusty or damaged parts within the gas appliances, especially the boilers. 
• Incomplete combustion of gas is the leading cause of carbon monoxide emissions. Hence, the engineer will specifically check for any such fault in the burners. Incomplete burning of the gas may generate odorless, colorless, but highly harmful carbon monoxide, which needs to be detected during the annual gas safety inspection. 
• The gas safe registered engineer is also required to check the gas pressure. Correct gas pressure is an important aspect of gas safety standards. So, it has to be ensured by the engineer that the burners, boilers, and furnaces are working properly with appropriate gas pressure. 
• The engineer needs to check the gas appliances to ensure that they are accurately installed, following the gas safety standards and the specifications provided by the manufacturers. 
• He will also check the joints and connections to confirm that these are tight enough and not causing gas leaks.
• Inspect the flues and chimneys to ensure they are free from any blockage. A blocked flue or chimney may also cause an accumulation of harmful gases; hence, engineers specifically examine these.
• Ventilation is also checked during the process of annual gas safety inspection. Inappropriate ventilation may result in suffocation and many other health issues, carbon monoxide poisoning being the most dangerous. 
• The inspecting engineer should also check the safety gadgets installed on the property during the gas safety inspection to ensure that they are working perfectly. This may include gas leak detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire alarms.
• The gas safe registered engineer will also check all the gas appliances to confirm they are working perfectly. Any abnormality will be recorded and reflected in the gas safety certificate mentioned against each appliance. The appliances considered “not safe for use” will be labeled accordingly.

Categorization of Unsafe Gas Appliances

The gas appliances that are considered unsafe or faulty will be marked as “Unfit for Use.” Accordingly, these appliances will be further classified as under, which will be recorded against each unsafe gas appliance on the gas safety certificate:

• Immediately Dangerous (ID) – The appliances marked as “ID” are unsafe for use. These appliances might need to be replaced, if the fault is serious or otherwise, it can be used after proper repair. The engineer will cut off the gas supply to these appliances with the landlord's permission. If the landlord is not allowed to do so, the engineer will report the matter to the relevant department, who may intervene and disconnect the gas supply to the entire property. 
  • At Risk (AR) – Any appliance labeled "AR" is also unsafe for use, but the level of risk might be less than the ones categorized as "ID". Such appliances can be used after repair and maintenance. However, it is recommended not to use such appliances unless the fault is removed. The engineer will also disconnect these appliances from the main gas supply with the permission of the landlord.
  • Not to Current Standards (NCS) – The appliances labeled "NCS" are considered fit for use, but it is a sort of warning that they may be somewhat risky as they do not meet the current safety standards. Such appliances should be replaced with new ones as early as possible to avoid any mishaps. 

The above-mentioned categorization of unsafe gas appliances is the main reason behind a failed gas safety certificate. If one or more appliances fall under the categories of ID or AR, the gas safety certificate is considered to be “failed.”

What Landlords Should Do After a Gas Safety Certificate Failure

The simple answer to this very common question is “Remove the faults highlighted by the engineer.” Looks so simple but might not be as simple in some of the cases. First of all, being a landlord, you need to understand, what actually is the issue. Normally, the engineer is supposed to make you understand which appliance is faulty and, more importantly, where the fault exists. He is also supposed to mention these details in the annual gas safety check records. 

However, the landlord should enquire from the engineer about the details of the issue with each individual appliance. Once the faults and the faulty appliances are identified, the landlord needs to get them fixed. 

The process to follow after the failed gas safety inspection can be summarized as under:

• The landlord needs to understand which appliances are rated as “not fit for use” or “unsafe for use.” 
• The landlord also needs to understand what the fault is and where it exists. This is a crucial step. It is not necessary that all the faulty appliances, rated as ID or AR, should be replaced. There might be some instances where these can still be used as a safe appliance after getting the fault removed. Hence, the landlords must get complete guidance from the engineer about the fault. He may also assist in suggesting the remedy. 
• The next step for the landlord of a failed gas safety certificate, is to arrange removal of faults in the appliances rated either ID or AR. This can be done by a qualified and experienced gas safety engineer who is registered with the gas safe register. 
• There may be one or more appliances that need replacement. The landlord will have to arrange their replacement with new ones, at the earliest.
• The replaced appliances should also be installed through a safe registered engineer so that the installation is strictly per the safety standards.
• Sometimes, there might be some issues with the gas pipework, which may be one of the reasons for a failed gas safety inspection. If the inspecting engineer highlights any such issue, the landlord should immediately fix the issue. It may involve the replacement of rusty, weak, or damaged parts of the gas pipework.

Once all the causes of the reasons for the failure of the gas safety certificate are removed, the gas safe registered engineer may be engaged for re-inspection to get the certificate validated. 

Conclusion

A failed gas safety inspection is not an extraordinary situation; landlords must prepare their properties to avoid any such happening. This can be done by regular, timely and periodic maintenance and servicing of all the gas appliances installed in their properties. 

However, if a landlord faces the unpleasant happening of a failed gas safety inspection, they need not worry but should react promptly. The only way to come out of this situation is to remove the issues that caused the failure of the inspection. The landlords might have to arrange repair or replacement of the faulty appliances. They may also need to replace the damaged or rusty parts of the gas pipework. All this should be done promptly so that the property may come out of the failed status and a valid gas safety certificate is issued by the gas safe registered engineer.