bdh198 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I have recently bought a repossession property with the intention of refurbishing it and getting it ready for rental. I have had a gas engineer round to look at the gas piping and boiler situation and he has made it clear that the boiler needs replacing and that the current gas supply would fail to meet the requirements for a Gas Safety Certificate. Of course, this will be sorted out and independently assessed well before the property is put up for rental, but the situation has raised an interesting question... Both the flat below mine, and the flat above, are rented out by their owners. The property is a converted Victorian terraced house and now comprises three properties one on top of the other. Mine is the middle property. If I didn't bother to get the gas supply compliant with the requirements for letting, and moved in myself, would that cause problems for the gas safety compliance of my neighbours directly above and below? Presumably, if there was a gas leak, carbon monoxide could easily penetrate into their flats. There is also nothing in the lease to say the gas supply has to be compliant with any requirements if used as owner occupier. Solent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Going to your last line first - I doubt if any older lease mentions gas safetly compliancy as this is a relatively new piece of legislation. I think a lot of gas pipe renewal work relies on engineers reporting unsafe pipework at time of any service to boilers, cookers etc. Is it not the case that carbon monoxide is in the exhaust from burning gas and not solely what is present in the pipes to be burnt as fuel? As I understand it being overcome by gas might make you sick but not be fatal (there's a happy thought!) If there were a gas leak gas it could seep into your neighbours properties but are leaking pipes the problem or is it just that they are old and made of lead? In general there seem to be few domestic gas explosions. Mortitia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Gas supply piping has to be of 22mm diameter copper piping at not 15mm piping which I suspect yours is at present Solent. If you have a built-in gas hob fitted it must also have the safety shut down device (FFD) installed in your hob and not just a bog standard gas hob. All flats in your block will or should have a Gas safety certificate and they should ALL comply with the latest gas safety laws if the inspection has been carried out by a qualified Gaseafe registered engineer.....there are no grey area's on inspections it is clear and precise and contained in their 'gas bible' of rules and regs and for a very good reason.....standardisation. Insurance companies will not pay out in the event of any rented property suffering a gas mishap with no current landlord/tenent gas certificate and not only that any landlord would be severely punished by the Courts in any event and there have been plenty of cases in the past whereby the Courts have punished Landlords severely for non compliance. Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdh198 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 Thanks for the replies I suppose my concern is currently for my neighbours’ position; until I have the gas sorted out will they potentially be in breach of the gas safety legislation even if they have a gas safety certificate for their individual flat? And leading on from that a greater concern is going to be for me, because if a neighbouring flat's failure to get a gas safety certificate can put my property in breach of the legislation I'm going to need to be sure every time I renew my certificate that their flats also have a valid certificate. Solent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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