Gas safety certificate: requirements for UK landlords

What is a gas safety certificate?

The regulations call it the gas safety record, and most landlords call it the gas certificate or CP12. It lists each appliance and flue checked, any defect found and any work done to fix it.

The rules are in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, which apply across Great Britain.

The yearly check

Each check is due within 12 months of the last. One done in the two months before that deadline counts as done on the deadline, so booking a few weeks early keeps your renewal date. Keep each record until two more checks have been done.

The check covers the gas appliances you provide and their flues. Pipework isn't included, though you must keep it safe, and HSE suggests having the whole system tested at the same visit. Appliances your tenant owns are theirs to get checked. You can confirm an engineer is registered on the Gas Safe Register website.

When do you have to give tenants the certificate?

A new tenant needs a copy of the current record before they move in, and existing tenants need one within 28 days of each check.

You can send it electronically if your tenant is happy with that, and give paper if they ask for it.

What it means if something goes wrong

An overdue check, or a copy your tenant never got, breaks the regulations. It no longer affects possession, because the gas record only ever mattered for Section 21, which ended on 1 May 2026.

Book the check straight away if it's overdue, and send any missed copy as soon as you notice, noting the date.

How to prove your tenant received it

A receipt your tenant signs and dates works well, and a clause in the tenancy agreement helps as backup. A system that records when they opened it gives you a dated log, while recorded delivery only shows something reached the address.