How long do you need to keep gas safety records?

The legal minimum is clear. Under regulation 36(3)(c) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, a landlord must ensure the record of each gas safety check is made and retained for two years from the date of that check. That is the floor, not the target. Almost everyone who deals with gas records, landlords, agents and engineers alike, ends up glad they kept them far longer.

What does the law actually say?

Regulation 36 requires a record to be made for every appliance and flue checked, and kept for a period of two years from the date of the check. The same regulation covers who sees it: each existing tenant must get a copy within 28 days of the check, and a new tenant must get one before they move in.

There is one wrinkle worth knowing. If you use the two-month early-check flexibility introduced in 2018 (doing the check any time from 10 months after the last one and keeping your original renewal date), HSE guidance says to keep records until two further gas safety checks have been carried out. That can stretch slightly past two calendar years, which is one more reason not to run your filing at the legal minimum.

Why is two years the floor, not the target?

Because the moments you actually need an old gas record rarely arrive within two years of the check. They arrive when something goes wrong, or when someone else starts asking questions:

• Possession claims. With Section 21 abolished in England from May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act, every possession case runs on grounds you have to evidence, and gas compliance is one of the first places a tenant's adviser looks. A complete history of records, dated and delivered, keeps your position clean.
• Selling the property. Buyers' solicitors routinely ask for gas safety records and service history during conveyancing. A full file smooths the sale; gaps invite questions, retention demands and delays.
• Disputes and insurance. If a tenant alleges a gas problem, or an insurer queries a claim, the records from three or four years ago suddenly become the most important paperwork you own.
• HMO licensing. Councils require the current gas safety certificate as part of licensing an HMO, and a consistent multi-year file shows a pattern of compliance rather than a last-minute scramble.

How long should engineers keep their own records?

The two-year duty sits with the landlord, not the engineer. But in practice the engineer's copy is the backup everyone relies on: when a landlord loses a certificate, the first call is to whoever did the check. There is no statutory period for how long an engineer must keep job records, so trade practice fills the gap, and it points one way. Keep them.

• HMRC requires the self-employed to keep business records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year, and CP12 jobs are business records.
• Benchmark commissioning checklists stay with the appliance for its working life, and the manufacturer's warranty depends on the annual service record being kept up, so commissioning and service entries matter years after the visit.
• Old job records win repeat work. The engineer who can pull up an appliance's readings, photos and history from previous visits walks in ahead of one who can't.

Digital storage makes “keep everything” free

HSE accepts electronically stored records, provided they can be reproduced in hard copy when required, are secure from loss and interference, and identify the engineer who did the check, for example by name and licence number. That removes the only real argument for a two-year cut-off, which was drawer space. A paper archive grows into boxes in the loft; a digital archive is a search box.

This is where software earns its keep. Manifold stores every record permanently, tied to the property and the appliance, searchable in seconds, so “do you still have the 2023 certificate?” is a thirty-second job rather than an afternoon of rummaging. Engineers keep their whole job history in one place; landlords get their records delivered digitally and retrievable whenever a solicitor, council or insurer asks.

What if records are already missing?

Ask whoever did the check first. The Gas Safe registered engineer or company that carried it out keeps a record and can usually issue a copy. If you cannot get one and you are not sure the check is still current, the safest route is to book a fresh check. Our guide on lost gas safety certificates walks through the steps.