The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018
Following a consultation process in 2016 which included input from the HMO Network’s Richard Price, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 were amended in April 2018, removing previous difficulties presented by a strict 12 month re-inspection requirement that in practice required far shorter than annual checks to be carried out to avoid committing a criminal offence the day the 12 month period expired.
The HSE have published guidance for landlords and make the following comments:-
“The amended Regulations, which do not relax regulatory requirements or reduce safety standards, are to:
- Introduce a degree of flexibility to the timing of landlords’ annual gas safety checks. This change means that landlords can carry out the annual gas safety check in the two months before the due date and retain the existing expiry date. This avoids landlords waiting until the last minute and not gaining access, or having to shorten the annual cycle check to comply with the law. There is no change to the legal requirement for an annual gas safety check or for maintenance to be carried out
- Incorporate an existing exemption into law to carry out alternative checks in situations where there is no meter to directly measure the heat input and it is not possible to measure the operating pressure, and extend the scope slightly to include situations where the meter is not accessible or the meter display is not working.”
