Five gas safety mistakes landlords make (and the fix for each)

The landlord gas safety mistakes that cause the most trouble are missing the 12-month deadline, not giving the tenant the record, blocking air vents, using an unregistered fitter, and losing the paperwork. None of them needs gas knowledge to avoid; each is a habit problem with a simple fix, set out below.

Most of these aren't deliberate; they're small things that slip. The sobering part is that the penalties don't care whether the slip was innocent. An out-of-date record is a breach whether you forgot or ignored it, so it's worth closing these gaps before they cost you.

Five mistakes at a glance

• Mistake 1: missing the 12-month deadline
• Mistake 2: not giving the tenant a copy
• Mistake 3: blocking or covering air vents
• Mistake 4: using someone who isn't Gas Safe registered
• Mistake 5: losing the records

Mistake 1: missing the 12-month deadline

This is the big one, and the easiest to do by accident. There's no grace period: the day a record lapses you're in breach of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, even if every appliance is working perfectly. It usually happens for a dull reason. The landlord notes the date of the last check rather than the next-due date, the year turns over, and the reminder that was supposed to live in someone's head doesn't. What to do instead: track the next-due date for every property, and use the early window. A check done in the last two months, from 10 months after the previous one, keeps your original renewal date, so booking early costs you nothing and a renewal never sneaks up on you.

Mistake 2: not giving the tenant a copy

Having the check done isn't the whole duty; the tenant has to receive the record. Existing tenants are owed a copy within 28 days of each check, and a new tenant must have it before they move in. In England, failing to give a new tenant the record can also foul up a later possession claim. What to do instead: hand the record over on the day, or send it the moment it arrives, and keep proof that you did. If you realise a tenant never got theirs, send it now and keep the evidence; a late copy with a date on it beats no copy at all.

Mistake 3: blocking or covering air vents

It's easy for a tenant, or a well-meaning decorator, to seal up a vent that looks like a draught. But that vent is often there to let an appliance burn safely and clear its combustion products, and blocking it can cause incomplete combustion and carbon monoxide. This one is dangerous rather than just expensive, and it can happen between checks without anyone telling you. What to do instead: never cover, seal or block a vent, glance at them whenever you visit, and tell tenants plainly why they matter. A line in the welcome pack, in writing, means the draught excluder never goes up in the first place.

Mistake 4: using someone who isn't Gas Safe registered

Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can legally carry out the check and issue a valid record. A cheaper quote from someone who 'used to do a bit of gas' is worthless as compliance, and potentially dangerous as work. If the person isn't registered, you haven't discharged the duty, whatever the paperwork says. What to do instead: always check the engineer's Gas Safe ID card, including the categories of work they're registered for, which are listed on the back. It takes under a minute and a genuine engineer expects to be asked.

Mistake 5: losing the records

You must keep gas safety records for at least two years, and you'll want them to hand when a tenant disputes something or you come to sell. A record in a drawer, a glovebox or a deleted email won't help you prove compliance when someone asks you to. What to do instead: store every record in one system that keeps the history and can produce any certificate in seconds. Digital beats paper here for one plain reason: it's searchable, and it can't go through the wash.

What ties these five gas safety mistakes together?

Read those back and the same shape appears each time: keep the check current, get the record to the tenant, and keep proof. The landlords who never have a gas safety scare aren't more careful by nature; they've just stopped relying on memory. When next-due dates are tracked for you, reminders arrive early and records sit in one searchable place, four of these five mistakes simply can't happen. The fifth, using a registered engineer, is a habit worth keeping for its own sake.