A compliance certificate for a boiler is the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate, issued after a boiler installation in England. GOV.UK guidance says it is issued within 8 weeks of the work being completed and acts as proof that the work complies with the Building Regulations. It is not the same as a landlord gas safety record, and it is not the Benchmark checklist in the back of your boiler manual. This page sets out who issues each document, what each one is for, and what you can do when no certificate exists for the boiler in your home.
What does a compliance certificate for a boiler actually certify?
A compliance certificate for a boiler certifies that the installation meets the Building Regulations. Installing or replacing a boiler is notifiable work under the Building Regulations 2010 in England. GOV.UK guidance on building work in your home states that you should receive a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate once the job is finished.
The certificate comes from the Competent Person Scheme your installer is registered with, not from the council. A registered installer self-certifies that the work complies and notifies the local authority where that is needed. GOV.UK states the certificate is issued within 8 weeks of completion and is used as proof of compliance. Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2010 names the installation of a heat-producing gas appliance and of a heating or hot water service system as self-certifiable work.
Three separate documents get called the boiler certificate. The Building Regulations Compliance Certificate covers building control. The landlord gas safety record covers a letting duty. The Benchmark checklist and the warranty registration belong to the manufacturer. Each has a different issuer and a different purpose. Our guide to the building regulations compliance certificate after a new boiler goes through the wording on the document itself.
Boiler compliance certificate or landlord gas safety record: which one applies to you?
A compliance certificate for a boiler and a landlord gas safety record are different documents with different issuers. One covers the installation itself, the other covers an annual safety check in a let property.
| Criterion | Building Regulations compliance certificate | Landlord gas safety record (CP12) |
|---|---|---|
| What it confirms | The boiler installation met the Building Regulations 2010 in England | A safety check on the gas appliances and flues the landlord provides |
| Who it is for | Anyone having a boiler installed or replaced in England | Landlords letting a property with gas appliances they provide |
| How often | Issued once, after the installation is completed | The check is required every 12 months |
| Who issues it | The Competent Person Scheme the installer is registered with | The Gas Safe registered engineer who carried out the check |
| Where it matters | Solicitors' searches when the home is sold | Copies to tenants within 28 days, and to new tenants before they move in |
If you live in your own home, there is no legal duty to arrange an annual gas safety check. HSE still advises maintenance and servicing in line with the manufacturer's instructions. Landlords must have the gas appliances and flues they provide checked every 12 months, keep the record for at least two years, and give tenants a copy within 28 days. Our guide to landlord gas safety in England sets out the duty in full.
Does the Benchmark checklist or warranty registration count as a compliance certificate?
The Benchmark checklist is not a compliance certificate for a boiler. Baxi describes Benchmark as the recognised scheme for the installation, commissioning and servicing of heating and hot water products in line with the Building Regulations. The checklist sits at the back of the manufacturer's manual and is filled in by the engineer. It records commissioning details and, later, each annual service.
Warranty registration is a third, separate document. Vaillant requires the guarantee to be registered within 30 days of installation, otherwise cover falls back to 12 months from the installation date. Vaillant also requires an annual service, entered in the Benchmark logbook, with the cost not covered by the guarantee. Worcester Bosch guarantee terms require the product to be serviced annually, with the details recorded in the service record and made available for inspection.
Keep all three together with the manual. A buyer's solicitor asks about the building control paperwork, while a warranty claim turns on the service record. FM Power registers the manufacturer warranty on your behalf after an installation.
No compliance certificate for your boiler? The regularisation route in England
Where a boiler was installed without being notified, the route in England is regularisation under Regulation 18 of the Building Regulations 2010. It applies to unauthorised building work begun on or after 11 November 1985. The application is made by you, as the owner, to your local authority building control. FM Power does not make that application and does not act for you with the council.
Regulation 18 sets out what the local authority may require. It can ask for the work to be opened up for inspection, for tests to be carried out and for samples to be taken. A regularisation certificate is evidence, but not conclusive evidence, that the requirements named in it were met. There is no fixed outcome and no fixed timescale, so treat it as a process you start rather than a result you can count on.
If the council asks for the appliance or its gas fittings to be examined, or for remedial work, that work must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Our guide on a boiler not notified to building control walks through the same route in more detail.
Who may legally install a gas boiler and produce the paperwork in England?
Only a Gas Safe registered engineer may work on gas fittings in a home in England. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended, a gas business must be on the Gas Safe Register to carry out work in scope of the regulations. HSE states that for anyone else this work is illegal. The engineer must also be qualified for the particular type of work.
Ask to see the engineer's ID card before work starts. HSE advises consumers to check it. The front shows the photo, registration number and expiry date. The back lists the categories of work the engineer is qualified for, such as boilers, gas fires or cookers.
FM Power is Gas Safe registered and works across London and the surrounding counties, seven days a week including evenings and weekends.
Which other rules run alongside a boiler replacement in England?
A boiler replacement in England triggers more than one requirement, and the compliance certificate covers the installation as a whole. Boiler Plus has applied to every boiler installed into an existing heating system in England since April 2018.
- Boiler interlock plus time and temperature control are required for gas and oil boilers under Boiler Plus in England.
- Minimum efficiency of 92% ErP applies to domestic gas boilers under Boiler Plus.
- Gas combi boilers need one extra measure: flue gas heat recovery, weather compensation, load compensation, or smart controls with automation and optimisation.
- Unvented hot water cylinders fall under Building Regulation G3 in England; every installation is notified to local authority building control directly or through a competent person scheme, and the installer must complete a commissioning checklist.
- Carbon monoxide alarms are required in each room with a fixed combustion appliance, other than a gas cooker, under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015.
Each of these shows up in the installation paperwork rather than in a separate certificate. A free home survey before an installation is the point at which the controls and the flue route are agreed, and you get a written fixed price before any work starts.
Selling a home: what the boiler compliance certificate is used for
When you sell, the boiler compliance certificate turns up in the searches your buyer's solicitor carries out. GOV.UK names that use directly: the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate is proof of compliance and appears in conveyancing searches. A missing certificate usually means questions before exchange rather than an immediate problem with the boiler.
An Energy Performance Certificate is a separate document with its own rules. A valid EPC must be commissioned before a home is marketed for sale. It is produced by an accredited energy assessor and lasts 10 years. A new boiler does not replace it, and the EPC does not replace the compliance certificate.
Between sales, the four things you can safely check yourself are the boiler pressure gauge, the thermostat and programmer settings, the reset button, and bleeding radiators. Anything involving gas, the flue or the inside of the boiler casing is work for a Gas Safe registered engineer. If the boiler needs attention while you sort out the paperwork, you can arrange a boiler service or repair with FM Power.
Sources
- GOV.UK – Building regulations approval: use a competent person scheme
- GOV.UK – Building work, replacements and repairs to your home (PDF)
- The Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 3
- The Building Regulations 2010, Regulation 18 (regularisation)
- HSE – Gas Safe Register
- HSE – Check an engineer: are they Gas Safe registered?
- HSE – Domestic gas: frequently asked questions
- HSE – Gas safety check records and what to keep
- GOV.UK – Boiler Plus factsheet (PDF)
- The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015
- GOV.UK – A guide to EPCs for the marketing, sale and let of dwellings
- Baxi – What is Benchmark?
- Vaillant – Domestic boiler guarantee terms and conditions
- Worcester Bosch – Guarantee terms and conditions
- Heatrae Sadia – Megaflo Eco SystemReady installation manual (PDF)