Landlord says he has a gas safety certificate but doesn't seem able to provide it

tobiascurious

What should I do? How dangerous is it to live in a house with no gas safety certificate?

There's a gas fire but we don't use it, and the central heating is gas. It's a prepayment meter.

princeofpounds

It's not normally that dangerous to be honest, unless the boiler is old or has not been tested since being serviced or fitted. You don't hear of lots of people in owner occupied housing dying from faulty boilers even though a check isn't mandatory there.

However, that's not to say the check shouldn't be done, even if for no other reason than it's a legal duty. It's certainly prudent to check, I'm just saying it's probably not an emergency.

You have to remind the landlord that it is an offence not to provide a copy of the gas safety certificate. It is not enough to just say he has one. Be firm. It doesn't bode well if this is what he thinks of his legal responsibilities

Pssst

It isnt dangerous to live in a house with no gas safety certificate. I dont have one for my house and neither do thousands of other houses.

It is however a legal requirement that landlords obtain annual gas safety certificates for houses which they let out and that they should be able to provide a copy of said cert for the tenant on request. If he cannot provide one then he needs to refer back to the engineer who provided it to either provide a copy or to have the property re-inspected. How long have you lived there? Are you almost 12months downline from when you moved in?

There is much paranoia about gas safety and yet no one seems to worry too much about electrical safety and other issues.

beaujolais-nouveau

Pssst wrote: »

There is much paranoia about gas safety .

It is not paranoia. Many, many people have died in their sleep because of a faulty gas boiler. All it takes is one inhalation of poisonous gas, and you are an ex-human.

My old central heating gas boiler went very quickly from being smelly to being potentially lethal. When I called out British Gas, they disabled it at once - disconnected it - and stuck a big notice on it saying it was not to be used. From my own experience, I can say that one whiff of poisonous gas put out by a boiler will make you unconscious in half a heart beat.

princeofpounds

The difference is that as an owner-occupier you are only going to kill yourself and your family. As a landlord you are going to kill a third party who didn't ask for it ;-)

clutton_2

a LL has a duty to provide a LGSC within 28 days of it being provided by the gas engineer

LandyAndy

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

It is not paranoia. Many, many people have died in their sleep because of a faulty gas boiler. All it takes is one inhalation of poisonous gas, and you are an ex-human.

I agree with Pssst. A few people die each year from faulty boilers. Some are in their own homes and haven't had their boiler tested regularly, some are in their own homes and have had their boiler tested regularly and some in rentals with certificates. I suspect fewer people die in a year from this cause than die in a day, or even an hour, on our roads.

Press the landlord for the cert but don't lose any sleep over its absence in the meanwhile.

LandyAndy

beaujolais-nouveau wrote: »

It is not paranoia. Many, many people have died in their sleep because of a faulty gas boiler. All it takes is one inhalation of poisonous gas, and you are an ex-human.

My old central heating gas boiler went very quickly from being smelly to being potentially lethal. When I called out British Gas, they disabled it at once - disconnected it - and stuck a big notice on it saying it was not to be used. From my own experience, I can say that one whiff of poisonous gas put out by a boiler will make you unconscious in half a heart beat.

An 11 month old safety certificate wouldn't have helped you much then would it?

poppysarah

How dangerous is it?

Well that's the point. You don't know because you've not seen a gas certificate to be able to make an informed decision about your own safety.

If there isn't one, why not? Is it because expensive essential repairs are required?

How much are carbon monoxide detectors these days? I'd recommend any house with gas has one. Buy it yourself and take it with you when you move.

beaujolais-nouveau

LandyAndy wrote: »

I agree with Pssst. A few people die each year from faulty boilers. Some are in their own homes and haven't had their boiler tested regularly, some are in their own homes and have had their boiler tested regularly and some in rentals with certificates. I suspect fewer people die in a year from this cause than die in a day, or even an hour, on our roads.

Press the landlord for the cert but don't lose any sleep over its absence in the meanwhile.

Your approach seems a bit cavalier. The landlord is required by law to be able to produce a gas safety certificate. Those were preventable deaths. A "few people" doesn't sound important when it is no one you know; those "few people" were loved and useful members of their family and society.

I suggest that the OP Googles "gas boiler deaths".

beaujolais-nouveau

LandyAndy wrote: »

An 11 month old safety certificate wouldn't have helped you much then would it?

I don't follow your logic. For all I know, had I had the thing tested 11 months before, some early signs might have been picked up.