How often does a landlord need a gas safety check?

Every 12 months. Each gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and since 6 April 2018 a check done up to 2 months early keeps your original deadline.

The rules are in regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes the guidance on them. This page is written for landlords in England, and the details below follow legislation.gov.uk and HSE as checked on 17 October 2026.

What the law requires

The duty covers appliances, fittings and flues you supply for the tenant's use, including those in a communal area the tenant may use. It does not cover an appliance the tenant brought, though you remain responsible for parts of the installation and pipework that serve it. The law also requires you to keep gas fittings and flues in a safe condition, separately from the yearly check. There is no set timetable for maintenance, but HSE says regular annual maintenance is good practice.

How the 2-month early window works

The basic rule counts 12 months from the last check, so on its own an early visit would pull every later deadline forward. Regulation 36A, added on 6 April 2018, changed that. If a check is completed in the 2 months ending with the deadline date, it is treated as made on the deadline date. Your next deadline is then 12 months after the old deadline, not 12 months after the visit.

To rely on this, you need to be able to show the checks were done on time, and HSE says to keep the record until two further checks have been done. That is now the rule in the regulations for every record, with a fixed 2 years only for an appliance or flue that has been removed. HSE's FAQ still says 2 years, which is the practical minimum.

There is a second, narrower rule. You may choose, once for each appliance or flue, to have it checked in the 2 months after its deadline instead, but only to bring its date into line with another appliance or flue in the same property. Without that reason, a late check is a breach.

The record and your tenants

The landlord gas safety record, once called a CP12, must show each appliance and flue checked, where it is, the engineer's name, registration number and signature, the date, the property address, your name and address or your agent's, any safety defect found and what was done about it, and confirmation that the check covered the examinations regulation 26(9) requires.

You can store records electronically if they can be printed when needed, are kept secure and identify the engineer. You can send the tenant an electronic copy if they are happy with that, but HSE says you must give a paper copy on request. If the appliances are not in any room the tenant uses, you can display the record prominently instead, with a note saying where the tenant can get their own copy. HSE says you must tell tenants at the start of a new tenancy where the notice is.

From 1 May 2026 the written statement of terms for a new private assured tenancy in England must include a statement explaining your gas safety duties under regulation 36, where a gas fitting is installed in or serving the property.

What this means for you

Say the deadline for your boiler and gas hob is 14 March 2027. An engineer who visits on 20 January 2027 is inside the 2-month window, so the law treats the check as done on 14 March 2027 and your next deadline is 14 March 2028. You then have 28 days from 20 January to give your tenant the record. A visit on 1 December 2026 would be outside the window, so the next check would fall due by 1 December 2027.

HSE says breaking these rules could mean a substantial fine, a prison sentence, or both. If your tenant refuses access, keep a written trail of each attempt. HSE looks for at least three.

The draft rules for England's new landlord register would also require information about gas safety for each let property. GOV.UK says the register launches on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands.

Steps to keep your gas check on time

1. Find your current deadline. It is 12 months after your last check, or 12 months after the old deadline if that check was done in the 2-month early window.
2. Book a Gas Safe registered engineer for a date in the 2 months before that deadline.
3. Check the engineer's Gas Safe ID card covers the type of appliance in your property.
4. Give each existing tenant a copy of the record within 28 days of the check, and a new tenant a copy before they move in.
5. Arrange any repairs the engineer finds, and add a note of the work to the record.
6. Keep every record until two more checks have been done, and diary the next deadline.

Rent from your lets may also bring you into Making Tax Digital; the free MTD check shows when. The landlords section has guides on the other safety checks, including the electrical safety report.