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Landlords must keep each gas safety record for two years from the date of the check, under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. If you use the early-check flexibility, keep records until two further checks have been done. In practice, keep everything for the life of the property.
Reviewed by Jordan Valentine-Dunn, Gas Safe registered engineer · Portsmouth Gas Heating · Last reviewed July 2026
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can carry out the gas safety check and issue the record in the first place; keeping it is then down to you. This is general guidance on record keeping, not legal advice on a specific tenancy, sale or dispute.
Last reviewed July 2026. This guide is general information, not legal or safety advice, gas safety work must be carried out by an appropriately Gas Safe registered engineer. Rules can change, so check the linked official sources for the current position.