Safety and the law
Gas work in Great Britain is by law for Gas Safe registered engineers, and landlords carry yearly duties. These entries give the emergency steps first, then the rules, and say which countries each covers.
- If you smell gas
If you smell gas, open doors and windows, avoid switches and flames, turn off at the meter control valve if you know where it is and can reach it safely, leave, and call 0800 111 999 from outside.
- Carbon monoxide and CO alarms
If a carbon monoxide alarm is going off, or you suspect CO, get everyone outside into fresh air first, stop using the appliance if you can, and don't go back in until advised.
- Gas Safe Register
The Gas Safe Register is the list of engineers approved for gas work: HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in domestic premises "must be a Gas Safe registered engineer".
- Who may work on a boiler
Who can work on a gas boiler is set by law: nobody may work on a gas fitting unless competent, and anyone doing it for work must be a Gas Safe registered engineer.
- Landlord gas safety record
A landlord gas safety certificate, legally a gas safety record, shows each gas appliance and flue was checked within the last 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
- Boiler service
A boiler service at least once a year is what HSE strongly advises and what makers' manuals ask for, but HSE's page doesn't state it as a legal duty for owner-occupiers.
- Benchmark and boiler records
The Benchmark checklist is the installer-completed boiler commissioning form that ships with the appliance, confirming it was installed and commissioned to the maker's instructions.
- Part P and heating electrics
Part P electrics rules cover notifiable work in homes in England and Wales, in different editions; in England heating is caught when a job adds a new circuit or alters one in a special location.