How to conduct gas safety check in your home
Gas can pose a serious threat to any home and it is vital that you conduct regular checks on your gas appliances to ensure they are working correctly. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause serious harm or can even be fatal to you and your family. By ensuring to check your home sufficiently each year you can potentially avoid a serious risk to those in your home.
Below you will find some simple tips to ensure you stay safe in your own home.
Installing new gas appliances
Whenever you have new gas appliances installed in your home you need to make sure you use a registered engineer to fit the new machinery. This should be for the following appliances: Gas boilers, gas fires hobs or cookers and any central heating, radiator and/or hot water system linked to a gas supply. You should also use a registered engineer for any repairs or services you have to this equipment. Using a cheaper service or trying to do it yourself could result in devastating circumstances.
How to find a registered engineer?
You can search for a registered engineer online or through your current gas supplier. For example, British Gas only employ registered engineers. If you require further proof that they are registered you can ask them for their Gas Safe Register ID card that shows a unique license number and explains the exact tasks they are qualified to perform.
Maintenance
Looking after your appliances is one way to ensure your safety. Your gas appliances should be checked and serviced once a year at the very least and you need to check with the manufacturer to ensure this is sufficient. When you service your gas boiler there will be a range of tests and checks to make sure it is operating safely. It is advised that you get a registered engineer in to do all servicing as doing it yourself could pose some serious risk.
I’m worried about my family. Can I get an alarm fitted to alert me to any problems?
The answer is yes. You can have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted in your home to avoid any danger to your home. Carbon Monoxide is extremely dangerous and very hard to detect, as it is odourless and colourless. Installed an alarm will give you peace of mind and ensure the safety of your family.
Additionally you need to be aware of the following symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning: a headache, dizziness, confusion, sickness and stomach pain and difficulty breathing.
If you believe you have a carbon monoxide leak in your home you need to evacuate your property and, if you can, turn off the gas supply at the mains.
Gas safety in rental properties
If you are a landlord you are responsible for the gas safety in all of your rental properties. You are required by law to meet the terms laid out in the Gas Safety Regulations 1998 to arrange maintenance by a Gas Safe registered engineer for all pipe work, appliances and flues. You must conduct annual safety checks and keep a record of your safety checks for 2 years. It is also wise to issue a copy to your tenants within 28 days of the check being completed and to issue a copy to any new tenants.
If your tenant has a brought a gas appliance into your rental property that does not belong to you, the landlord, then you are only responsible for the pipe work associated with the appliance and not the appliance itself.
It is a good idea to require notification from your tenants if they plan on bringing a gas appliance into your home. You can then try to reach an agreement where all the appliances are checked at the same time.
Gas is a serious matter whether it is in your own home or one of your properties. If you don’t maintain and service your appliances sufficiently then you are not only putting you family at risk, but you risk being caught in a law suit with your tenants. It is a good idea to set a reminder to have all of your properties checked at the same time each year.
Have you had regular servicing on your gas appliances? Have you ever run into any trouble with your gas appliances? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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