Gas safety check: what happens and how long it takes

What is a gas safety check?

A gas safety check is a visit from a Gas Safe registered engineer who checks each gas appliance in your home, and the flue that serves it. They make sure the gas burns correctly, the appliance has enough fresh air, it is securely fitted and connected, fumes leave safely through the flue or chimney, and its safety devices work.

Birmingham City Council tells its tenants that its annual safety check takes about 45 minutes. Neither HSE nor the Gas Safe Register sets a standard length, because the engineer checks every appliance and flue one by one. A home with one boiler is a shorter job than a home with a boiler, a gas hob and a gas fire. Ask the engineer for an estimate when you book, and tell them how many gas appliances you have.

Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can carry out the check. It is not something to do yourself, and you never need to open the boiler casing or touch any gas part before the visit.

What the engineer checks on each appliance

The Gas Safe Register says a gas appliance safety check makes sure the appliance:

• Is properly set and adjusted so the gas burns correctly.
• Is suitable for the room it is located in.
• Is physically stable, securely fitted and properly connected to the gas pipework.
• Has an adequate and permanent air supply that is suitable for the appliance installed.
• Has all its safety devices functioning properly.
• Has any flues, chimneys and air vents operating correctly.

The four checks the law names

For a rented home, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 set a minimum. Regulation 36(9) says a landlord's safety check "shall include, but shall not be limited to" the matters in regulation 26(9). In plain English, the engineer examines:

1. The flue

How effective any flue is at taking the products of combustion out of the home.

2. The air supply

Whether the appliance gets the supply of combustion air it needs to burn gas safely.

3. Pressure or heat input

The appliance's operating pressure or heat input, or both. Where that is not reasonably practicable to examine, the engineer checks its combustion performance instead.

4. Safe operation

That the appliance operates so as to function safely.

Those four points are the legal floor for landlords, not the ceiling. The Gas Safe Register check list above covers the same ground for any home.

How long does a gas safety check take?

Birmingham City Council puts its annual check for council tenants at about 45 minutes. No national body sets a standard time, so your visit depends on your home. These are the things that make it longer or shorter:

• How many gas appliances there are. Each appliance, and each flue serving it, is checked in turn.
• Whether there are flues or chimneys to check, and how easy they are to reach.
• Access. If the boiler sits behind stored boxes or the engineer cannot get to an appliance, the visit takes longer or has to be rebooked.
• Whether you book a boiler service on the same visit. A service adds the maintenance work the manufacturer's instructions call for.
• Whether a fault turns up. If the engineer finds a problem, they will explain it and what needs to happen next, which adds time.

Gas safety check or boiler service?

How to get ready for the visit

A little preparation keeps the visit short and avoids a wasted trip:

• Clear the space around the boiler, the gas meter and every gas appliance so the engineer can reach them.
• Keep the manufacturer's instructions for your appliances somewhere easy to find, if you still have them.
• Make sure an adult is at home for the whole visit to let the engineer in and hear what they find.
• Ask to see the engineer's Gas Safe ID card. The Gas Safe Register says every registered engineer carries one, it shows their qualifications, and its unique licence number can be checked on the Gas Safe Register website.
• Check the card lists the type of work you need, for example a domestic boiler if the boiler is being checked.
• Do not take anything apart or open the boiler casing. If the boiler has a fault already, tell the engineer when you book rather than trying to fix it first.

What happens if your appliance fails the check

Faults are classified under the Gas Industry Unsafe Situations Procedure, and the engineer will explain what they have found. HSE says that if an appliance or installation is found to be either "at risk" or "immediately dangerous", both carry the same message on the warning label: "Danger Do Not Use".

Take that label at its word. HSE says "it is illegal for anyone to use a gas appliance if they suspect it is unsafe". Leave the appliance off until a Gas Safe registered engineer has repaired it and checked it again. Never try a gas repair yourself, and never remove the label.

Signs to book a check sooner

You do not have to wait for the annual visit. The Gas Safe Register lists these warning signs of a faulty gas appliance: it is not working properly, it burns with a floppy yellow flame rather than a crisp blue one, there are black or brown marks on or around it, the boiler pilot light keeps going out, or there is more condensation than usual inside the windows. If you see any of them, stop using the appliance and book a Gas Safe registered engineer.

If you smell gas

Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 straight away. HSE's advice is to open all the doors and windows and shut off the gas supply at the meter control valve if you know where it is. Do not smoke, put out any naked flames and do not touch any electrical switches. HSE also recommends a carbon monoxide alarm that meets British Standard EN 50291 as an extra precaution, but an alarm never replaces a proper check.

Homeowner, tenant or landlord?

If you own your home, HSE "strongly advises that all gas appliances, flues and pipework should be installed, regularly maintained and serviced at least annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer". Booking it is up to you.

If you rent, your landlord arranges the check for the gas appliances they provide, and you let the engineer in. Our guide for tenants on your landlord's gas safety responsibilities covers what to do if a check is overdue.

If you are a landlord, the check is a legal duty with its own paperwork, the Landlord Gas Safety Record. Our CP12 guide covers the 12-month rule, the copy your tenant must get and how long to keep the record.

Where a cover plan fits in

A gas safety check tells you whether your appliances are safe on the day. It does not pay for a repair when the boiler fails a few months later. That is the gap a cover plan is for.

Smart Plan is a service plan, not insurance, from UK Boiler Company Ltd. You build your own cover and pay only for the modules you choose. Boiler repairs are carried out through a national network of thousands of Gas Safe registered engineers we work with. A cover plan is not a gas safety check and never replaces one.

What to know before you sign up

The conditions that shape what a Smart Plan boiler cover plan is worth to you:

• Cover limit for boiler and central heating: up to £500 in each 12-month period if the boiler is under seven years old, and up to £200 if it is over seven years old. Parts and labour are included up to that limit.
• A £95 call-out fee applies in defined cases, paid in advance of us attending.
• In the first 30 days of a new agreement, cover still applies, but any call-out you request costs the £95 call-out fee in advance.
• Call-outs run Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00, unless it is a genuine emergency breakdown.
• We aim to get an engineer out to you within two working days, inside those call-out hours.
• The plan is monthly rolling, but once you use a service a 12-month agreement period begins.
• There is a 14-day cooling-off period, and it ends the moment a service is carried out.

Gas safety check FAQs

Want help with boiler repairs between checks?

A gas safety check shows whether your appliances are safe today. A Smart Plan boiler module spreads the cost of covered repairs afterwards, up to your cover limit. It is a service plan, not insurance. A £95 call-out fee applies in defined cases, and a 12-month agreement period begins once you use a service.

Related links

• Landlord boiler cover
• What is a CP12 gas safety certificate?
• Tenants: your landlord's gas safety responsibilities
• How to check a Gas Safe ID card
• Carbon monoxide awareness
• Boiler service cost: what you should pay
• Gas Safe Register: what is a gas appliance safety check?
• HSE: gas safety for home owners
• Birmingham City Council: annual gas safety checks
• Regulation 36, Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998