Gas safety checks

  • All gas appliances in your property need to be safety checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer annually
  • If you rent your home and have gas appliances, your landlord must provide carbon monoxide alarms 
     

All gas appliances in your property need to be safety checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer annually. If the gas appliances in your home are unsafe, you could be at risk of fire, explosion or carbon monoxide poisoning. 

If you rent your home, your landlord must provide a copy of the annual gas safety check (dated within the last year) before your occupation contract starts.  Records of any gas safety checks carried out during your occupation contract must be given to you within 28 days.  

 For information on gas safety, call the HSE’s free Gas Safety Advice Line on 0800 300 363. 

Carbon monoxide 

If you rent your home and have gas appliances, your landlord must provide carbon monoxide alarms.  

Carbon monoxide gas is known as the ‘silent killer’ because it’s invisible and has no smell. It’s also very poisonous and can kill quickly. Carbon monoxide can be produced if: 

  • gas appliances are not installed or maintained properly 
  • gas appliances are broken or not working properly 
  • flues or chimneys become blocked 
  • rooms are not adequately ventilated. 

Children, elderly people, pregnant women and people with respiratory problems are particularly at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning. The symptoms are similar to those of flu, and include tiredness, headaches, nausea, chest pains, sudden faintness, erratic behaviour, diarrhoea and stomach pains. 

If you regularly suffer from any of these symptoms and have gas appliances in your home, ask your doctor for a blood or breath test for carbon monoxide. If you are tested positively for the effects of carbon monoxide, you should immediately turn off your gas appliances and arrange for them to be checked by a registered gas installer. 

The Gas Safe Register website has more information. 

What should I do in an emergency? 

If you think there may be a gas leak in your home (for example, if you smell gas or your carbon monoxide detector goes off), there are several things you need to do : 

  • if you can, turn off the gas supply at the meter 
  • get out immediately, leaving the doors and windows open if possible for ventilation. Remember, don’t turn any electrical switches on or off (this includes light switches and the doorbell) and don’t smoke 
  • warn your neighbours 
  • call the National Gas Emergency number – 0800 111 999 (If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, you can use a textphone (Minicom) on 0800 371 787). An engineer will come out free of charge and disconnect either the leaking appliance or the entire gas supply if necessary. If possible, they will fix the problem straight away. Otherwise, they will isolate the faulty appliance so you can’t use it and turn the gas supply back on again. You’ll then need to arrange for a Gas Safe registered engineer to come and fix the appliance. 
  • report the leak to your gas supplier (for example, British Gas). 
  • If you think you’ve been exposed to carbon monoxide gas, go to see a doctor immediately and ask for a blood or breath test. 

If you are disabled, chronically ill or of retirement age, you might be covered by the Priority Services Register scheme and get more help.  Click here for more information. 

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Yn anffodus, ni allwn ddarparu'r wybodaeth hon yn Gymraeg. Mae cyfieithiad Cymraeg ar gael trwy'r ddolen Cymorth Clyweledol ar frig y dudalen. Fodd bynnag, ni fydd y cyfieithiad yn gwbl gywir bob amser gan ei fod yn cael ei gynhyrchu'n awtomatig
Unfortunately, we cannot provide this information in Welsh. There is a Welsh translation available via the Audio Visual Help link at the top of the page. However, these will not always be completely accurate as they are automatically generated.

This page was last updated on: February 16, 2023

Shelter Cymru acknowledges the support of Shelter in allowing us to adapt their content. The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.