Gas safety at home: what you need to know | Tenant news

With Gas Safe Register’s Gas Safety Week (9-15 September) almost upon us, we’d like to remind you about the importance of gas safety checks, and how you can recognise a gas emergency.

As your landlord, it’s our duty to organise annual gas safety checks for your home, which ensure that your boiler, and other gas appliances owned by us, are safe to use.

A landlord’s gas safety record, or gas safety certificate as it’s sometimes called, is a legal document confirming all gas appliances, flues and fittings in a rented property have been checked for safety by a Gas Safe-registered engineer in the last 12 months.  

Landlords must service gas appliances as frequently as stated by the manufacturer and the landlord’s gas safety policy.

This applies to all gas appliances owned by the landlord, but not those owned by the tenant.

Recognising a gas emergency

Having your boiler inspected regularly is the best way to prevent a gas emergency, but in the unlikely event this fails, here are some tips for early detection and keeping you and your family safe.

• Natural gas is odourless, but a strong-smelling substance is added to it for easy leak detection. You may have a leak if you can smell an odour like rotten eggs.
• Hissing or whistling noises near gas appliances could indicate a potential leak.
• If you see bubbles in standing water outside your home or unexplained dead or dying plants around the pipeline, this is another tell-tale sign, you may have a gas leak.
• Irregular breathing, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, and headaches are all signs that you may have been exposed to natural gas.
• Unexplained increases in your gas use can also indicate a leak. Seasonal fluctuations are normal, but large unexplained increases aren’t.

If you notice one or a combination of those signs:

1. Open doors and windows to allow fresh air in, turn off the gas at the mains tap.
2. Do not use ANY electrical appliances that could cause a spark.
3. Leave your home immediately and move a safe distance away.
4. Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 and report a leak.
5. Wait a safe distance away from your home for the gas engineer.

Carbon monoxide advice

A carbon monoxide (CO) leak is another serious gas emergency, and it’s more difficult for the senses to detect than natural gas because it’s colourless, odourless and tasteless.

Having carbon monoxide detectors installed in your home is essential, as it’s the only reliable way of keeping your home safe.

In the unlikely event your carbon monoxide alarm detector fails, there are ways to detect CO poisoning.

• CO exposure can cause headaches, nausea, breathlessness, dizziness and weakness. Late-stage symptoms include loss of consciousness, cherry-red skin colour and death.
• Animals acting sick or lethargic for no apparent reason may also indicate CO poisoning.
• If you notice these symptoms in others or everyone in a building is inexplicably sick, this could be a sign of CO poisoning.

If you experience one or a combination of these signs, get everyone out of the building immediately and contact the National Gas Emergency Service as soon as possible.

Always ensure the gas engineer has their Gas Safe ID badge on show before they enter your home. If you’re at all unsure about their identity, please call our Customer Services Team at Habinteg Direct on 0300 365 3100.

Visit our health and safety page web pages for more information on smoke and CO alarms and gas safety.