Gas Appliance Service near you

A service is maintenance: the engineer cleans, inspects and adjusts the appliance so it keeps working as the manufacturer intended, and replaces what is worn. A safety check is the examination defined by the Regulations, which regulation 36(9) ties to the matters in regulation 26(9): the flue, the combustion air supply, the operating pressure or heat input, and safe functioning. A landlord's gas safety record is the document produced by the second of those, not the first.

HSE is explicit that neither substitutes for the other, and says the advice of a competent Gas Safe registered engineer should be taken where necessary on what action is required. For an owner-occupier there is no statutory interval at all, but HSE's own carbon monoxide advice is to have appliances regularly maintained and annually serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer, which is where the annual habit comes from.

Regulation 3 sets the legal test twice over. No person shall carry out any work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so; and no employer shall allow an employee to do such work, and no self-employed person shall do it, unless they are a member of a class approved by HSE. The regulation also makes it an offence to falsely pretend to be a member of that class, and puts a duty on employers and self-employed people who control the work to ensure the competence requirement is met. Approved Document J confirms that the approved class means registration with Gas Safe Register, and notes that because of this the Building Regulations allow work need not be notified to a building control body if it solely comprises the installation of a gas appliance by a member of that approved class.

Registration is not a blanket licence. HSE advises checking that the registered engineer is competent to work in that specific area of gas, and says this is clearly marked on the back of the engineer's Gas Safe Register registration card. It also says that all registered engineers must carry ID cards identifying the appliances they are qualified to work on, and that consumers are strongly encouraged to check the card before letting anyone begin work. Approved Document J adds that persons deemed competent are those holding a current certificate of competence in the type of activity to be conducted.

One more piece of HSE advice is worth repeating because people ignore it: if your engineer recommends that more work needs to be done on your appliance, follow the advice given, and if you have doubts, follow it in the interim while you seek a second view.

Regulation 36 places the duty on the landlord, defined for England and Wales as the person entitled to the reversion on a lease of less than seven years or a periodic tenancy, or the licensor under a licence. Every landlord must ensure that relevant gas fittings and any flue serving them are maintained in a safe condition so as to prevent the risk of injury, and must ensure each appliance and flue is checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked. The work and the check must be carried out by, or by an employee of, a member of the HSE-approved class.

The record is prescribed in detail. It must include the date of the check, the address of the premises, the name and address of the landlord or agent, a description and location of each appliance or flue checked, any safety defect identified, any remedial action taken, confirmation that the check complies with regulation 26(9), the name and signature of the individual carrying out the check, and the registration number with which that individual or their employer is registered. A copy must be given to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check and to any new tenant before they occupy the premises, and the record must be retained until there have been two further checks, which HSE describes as keeping it for two years.

Regulation 36A, added in 2018, is the flexibility landlords ask about. A check completed within the two months ending with the deadline date is treated as having been made on the deadline date, so booking early does not shorten the next cycle. A landlord may also check within the two months beginning with the deadline date instead, but only once for each appliance or flue, and only in order to align that appliance's deadline with another appliance in the same premises.

HSE describes carbon monoxide as a colourless, odourless, tasteless poisonous gas produced by incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels including gas, oil, wood and coal, and says that according to its statistics around seven people a year die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues that have not been properly installed or maintained, or that are poorly ventilated. Levels that do not kill can cause serious harm over a long period.

The physical signs it lists are visible if you know to look: yellow or orange rather than blue flames, except on fuel effect fires and flueless appliances which burn that colour normally; soot or yellow or brown staining around or on appliances; pilot lights that frequently blow out; and increased condensation inside windows. The symptoms it lists are easy to mistake for flu or food poisoning: headaches or dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, loss of consciousness, tiredness, pains in the chest or stomach, erratic behaviour and visual problems. If you think you may have been exposed, HSE says to seek urgent medical advice from a GP or an accident and emergency department.

If you suspect an appliance is spilling carbon monoxide, HSE's instruction is to call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, switch the appliance off and shut off the gas supply at the meter control valve, open all doors and windows to ventilate the room, and see your GP. The same emergency number applies to a suspected gas leak. HSE also runs a free Gas Safety Advice Line on 0800 300 363.

Two separate sets of rules apply. Under the Building Regulations in England, Approved Document J says that where a new or replacement fixed gas burning appliance is installed in a dwelling, excluding gas appliances used solely for cooking, a carbon monoxide alarm should be provided in the room where the appliance is located. It should comply with BS EN 50291-1:2018 and be powered by a battery designed to last the working life of the alarm, with a warning device for end of life; mains-powered Type A alarms with fixed wiring, fitted with a sensor failure warning device, may be used instead.

Placement is specified too: the alarm should be in the same room as the appliance, on the ceiling at least 300 millimetres from any wall, or if wall-mounted then as high as possible above doors and windows but not within 150 millimetres of the ceiling, and between 1 and 3 metres horizontally from the appliance. Approved Document J adds the caution that an alarm is not a substitute for correct installation and regular servicing.

Separately, HSE states that from 1 October 2022 the law changed in England so that all relevant landlords must provide a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers. Scotland and Wales have their own requirements, and HSE points to the devolved guidance for those.

Regulation 30 restricts where appliances may be installed, and the restrictions are the reason a service sometimes turns into a difficult conversation. No gas appliance may be installed in a room used or intended to be used as a bathroom or shower room unless it is room-sealed. A gas fire, other gas space heater or gas water heater of more than 14 kilowatts gross heat input may not be installed in a room used or intended as sleeping accommodation unless it is room-sealed. At 14 kilowatts or less, and for any instantaneous water heater, the appliance must be either room-sealed or fitted with a safety control designed to shut it down before a dangerous quantity of combustion products builds up in the room. The restrictions extend to a cupboard or compartment within such a room, and to one adjacent to it if there is an air vent between them.

HSE's guidance applies this to a situation people create by accident. Since 31 October 1998, any room converted to use as sleeping accommodation should not contain those appliance types unless the conditions are met; where a room contained one and was used as a bedroom before 1998, a risk assessment is needed to decide whether it can still be used that way. If you are unsure about the safety of any gas appliance, HSE says to get a Gas Safe registered engineer to check it. Landlords have a parallel duty: regulation 36(11) forbids a landlord from having a fitting of a type caught by regulation 30 in a room occupied or to be occupied as sleeping accommodation.

Tell the engineer what appliances you have before the visit, not on the doorstep: a boiler, a gas fire, a cooker, a back boiler and an LPG heater are five different competences and a card that covers one does not cover all. The number of appliances is the single biggest thing that moves a quote, because each one carries its own examination under regulation 26(9). After that come access, whether a flue is concealed and needs inspection hatches, whether the property is rented and so needs the prescribed safety record rather than a service note, whether the fuel is natural gas or LPG, and how far the engineer travels to your postcode. Ask what the visit includes, whether a record or certificate is issued, and what happens if the engineer finds a defect and has to turn the appliance off.

LokalMatch is the introduction, not the trade. You describe the property, the appliances and what you need once, and gas businesses covering your postcode contact you; they pay for the requests they receive, and describing the job costs you nothing. LokalMatch does not carry out gas work, does not set or approve anyone's charges, and does not vet, rank or recommend the businesses that reply. Checking the Gas Safe Register ID card and the appliance categories on the back of it, before anyone touches an appliance, is the check HSE asks consumers to make and it stays with you.