All
gas safety certificates must be issued by an engineer
registered with the GAS SAFE REGISTER. All existing
gas safety certificates issued prior to this date
will remain valid until the due expiry date, even
if that is after 1st April 2009.
This
is the new Health and Safety Executive (H&SE)
hallmark for UK gas safety; they will oversee and
regulate the new safety body. Until April 2009 engineers
who carried out works in rental properties, such as
safety checks or installations had to be CORGI registered.
Now for an engineer to carry out work in your property
they must be registered with the GAS SAFE REGISTER.
Many
landlords and some letting agents may fall foul of
the law as they may not be aware of this important
change to legislation and continue to use preferred
tradesmen that are CORGI registered but who are not
on the GAS SAFE REGISTER. Any gas safety certificate
issued would not be valid and the landlord would be
liable should anything go wrong during a tenancy.
If you are using a letting agent, make sure they are
aware of this important change in legislation, if
they are not aware; consider changing your agent as
they should be protecting your interests not allowing
landlords and tenants to be put severely at risk.
More
than 50 people in Britain die each year from carbon
monoxide poisoning as a result of poor installation,
poor maintenance or failure or damage to a gas appliance
in service, and death rates are rising.
Penalties
for not complying with the Gas Installation (Safety
and Use) Regulations 1998 for landlords are severe,
and can include imprisonment.
The
courts take a dim view of any failure to comply with
ensuring the safety of a tenant and some landlords
end up hitting the headlines as they fail to be diligent
with the annual renewal and allow a lapse to occur.
In March 2009 His Honour Judge Corrie fined a professional
landlord with 193 properties in Northampton Crown
Court, hitting him with £14,000 costs and a
2 year conditional discharge. At the hearing, His
Honour Judge Corrie stressed that the authorities
are right to be vigilant concerning such infringements
- not only in terms of the individual, but also to
maintain public confidence. He said: “For landlords
large and small, there is a need to protect the public,
particularly those who rent properties, to guard against
gas explosions, which are potentially fatal. Not only
this, but also asphyxiation”.
The
message to all landlords is quite clear, BE VIGILANT,
OBEY THE LAW OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. Make sure you
are aware of when each certificate expires and plan
ahead to have a new one issued by a GAS SAFE engineer.
Landlords
who manage their own properties should check that
their engineer carries the Gas Safe Register ID card
with its own unique licence number. This can be done
through the website at www.gassaferegister.co.uk
or by telephoning 0800 408 5577
Article
supplied by Mike Clarke Property Investor |
