Gas Safety: Birmingham Landlord Guide

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, every Birmingham landlord with a gas-using property must:

• Have all gas appliances and flues checked annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer
• Receive a Gas Safety Record (commonly called a CP12)
• Serve a copy on every existing tenant within 28 days of the check
• Serve a copy on every new tenant before they move in
• Keep a copy on file for at least two years

The annual deadline is measured from the date of the previous check, not the calendar year. A check on 15 March must be repeated by 14 March the following year.

The engineer must check every gas appliance owned by the landlord, including:

• Gas boilers
• Gas hobs and ovens
• Gas fires and gas back-boilers
• Gas tumble dryers
• Any other landlord-owned gas appliance

The engineer also checks the gas pipework (where reasonably accessible) and any flues serving the appliances. The check covers safety, not energy efficiency.

Tenant-owned appliances are not part of the landlord duty, but if they are in the property the engineer should report any visible safety concerns.

HMOs have additional gas safety expectations through the licence conditions:

• Annual check on time, with the record served on each occupier of the affected rooms
• Carbon monoxide alarms in every room with a fixed fuel-burning appliance (gas boiler, gas fire) under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022
• Boiler and flue access maintained throughout the property
• Engineer's report kept available for inspection by the council

Failing to provide a current Gas Safety Record on demand from the council can trigger an emergency prohibition notice on the HMO, even without other safety concerns.

Failure to meet the gas safety duty is a criminal offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974:

• Unlimited fine on conviction
• Up to six months in prison for serious cases
• HMO licence may be revoked
• Selective licence may be revoked
• Section 8 possession claims may be refused for tenancies during which there was no valid Gas Safety Record
• PRS Database registration (when it opens) will require current Gas Safety Record details

In Birmingham, the council's housing team treats current Gas Safety Records as a baseline expectation. Properties without one are often the first to attract scrutiny on a wider compliance review.

Practical steps:

1. Diary the next check 11 months after the current one (gives buffer)
2. Book the engineer 4 to 6 weeks ahead, especially in October to February peak demand
3. Coordinate tenant access in writing with at least 48 hours notice
4. Receive the record from the engineer in PDF format, not handwritten
5. Serve the record on every existing tenant within 28 days using email (where the tenancy permits) or post
6. For new tenancies, serve the record alongside the tenancy agreement before move-in
7. Save the record to the property file in PropReady; the system tracks expiry and reminds you 60, 30, and 7 days before the deadline

The single biggest source of avoidable breaches is forgetting the annual deadline. A simple diary system catches it; PropReady's automatic countdown removes the risk entirely.