This is part of a series of guidance about safety and security provided for students.

Gas Safety

Faulty gas appliances can be very dangerous. Fortunately some of the toughest laws regarding rented accommodation relate to this area, so your landlord should be taking every step to keep them safe. In addition to the information on this page, the CORGI website has lots of information about both the legal aspects and gas safety.

The Dangers

From the Health and Safety Executive website:

“Every year about 30 people die from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues which have not been properly installed or maintained.

Many others also suffer ill health. When gas does not burn properly, as with other fuels such as coal, wood or oil, excess CO is produced which is poisonous.

You can't see it, taste it or smell it but CO can kill without warning in just a matter of hours.

Symptoms of CO can include tiredness, drowsiness, headaches, giddiness, nausea, vomiting, pains in the chest, breathlessness, stomach pains, erratic behaviour and visual problems. These symptoms can mimic many common ailments and may easily be confused as flu, or simple tiredness.

If you or your family experience the above symptoms and you believe CO may be involved you must seek urgent medical advice. Your doctor will need to test you for a blood or breath sample. Be aware, CO quickly leaves the blood and tests may be inaccurate if taken more than four hours after exposure has ceased.”

The Law

If a rented property has any gas appliances in it (such as a gas central heating boiler, a gas fire, or a gas cooker) the landlord must by law have it inspected by a CORGI registered tradesman every twelve months. There are serious penalties for not doing so.

Your landlord should provide you with a copy of the CORGI tradesman’s certificate showing that the appliances are safe. If they do not, ask them for one. If they cannot show you a current valid certificate straight away, confirm the request in writing to the landlord, advising them that they are legally obliged to have the appliances certified, and giving them a relatively short period of time to supply one. If you’re left waiting for a few days you should get and use a carbon monoxide detector (see below) – they’re no substitute for a CORGI check, but they can give you some piece of mind while the certificate is in the post.

If you are suspicious about the validity of any certificate provided you can call CORGI to check out the registration details of the tradesman.

Further Precautions

If you want to take further precautions about the safety of the appliances, you could get Carbon Monoxide detectors. They range from very simple (and cheap) ones with a sensitive disk that changes colour in the presence of Carbon Monoxide to more expensive audible ones. Whilst they cost a fair bit more, audible alarms don’t rely on you noticing them – if there’s a problem they’ll tell you loudly!

If your CO alarm goes off, contact Transco’s gas emergency service on 0800 111 999. If anyone in the house feels unwell, seek medical assistance urgently. You can also call Transco if you suspect any other types of gas emergencies, such as a gas leak.

Summary

Carbon Monoxide (CO) has no taste or smell, but is poisonous, killing around 30 people every year.
Get a CO alarm, preferably audible.
Your landlord must have all gas appliances inspected annually by a CORGI registered tradesman.
In an emergency, contact Transco on 0800 111 999.
See the CORGI website for further information.

Pages in this Guide

The following pages have a lot of information about safety, which might seem a lot to take in. If you don’t want to have to check all these things, Accreditation can be considered a ‘short-cut’, since most of our safety advice is reflected in the requirements of the Accreditation Scheme. It’s one of the reasons we strongly recommend you to rent an Accredited house.

This information is provided for general guidance only. Safety and security are important issues, and if you have any concerns you should speak to an expert.