No regulation in England names a stability bracket for a gas cooker on its own. The duty arrives through the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended: an appliance has to be installed with due regard to the manufacturer's instructions and must not be left in a state where it is a danger. In a let, the Gas Safe registered engineer judges the bracket, the bayonet fitting and the condition of the flexible hose when the annual gas safety check is carried out.
Is a stability bracket a legal requirement for a gas cooker in a rented property?
A stability bracket is not named in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended, which apply in England. The bracket, also called a stability device or stability chain, is the fixing that stops a free-standing cooker tipping forward. Its place in the rules comes from regulation 33. After installation, the installer has to examine whether the appliance has been installed with due regard to any manufacturer's instructions. Where the cooker's own instructions call for a stability device, fitting that device is part of installing the cooker correctly.
Regulation 26(1) sits behind this too. It bars anyone from installing a gas appliance unless it can be used without constituting a danger to any person. A cooker that can tip when weight goes on an open oven door is the sort of danger an engineer weighs up. Which device suits your cooker is a judgement for the Gas Safe registered engineer against that model's instructions. There is no single bracket that answers for every cooker in every let.
Who may fit the stability bracket, the hose and the bayonet fitting on a gas cooker?
Work on a gas cooker in a let is for a Gas Safe registered engineer. Regulation 3(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended, allows work on a gas fitting only by a person competent to do it. Regulation 3(3) adds that a business or self-employed person may carry out that work only as a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive, which in practice means the Gas Safe Register. HSE states that do-it-yourself work on gas appliances and fittings could be dangerous and is likely to be illegal.
Buying a hose or a bracket yourself does not change that position. Connecting the hose, securing the cooker and testing the joint for gas tightness all form part of the installation work, and regulation 33 requires the installer to test the connection afterwards. Where your tenant has brought their own cooker, the split of duties is set out in our guide to what a landlord must check on a tenant's own gas cooker.
Can a bayonet-fitted gas cooker be pulled out to clean behind it?
Pulling a bayonet-fitted cooker out to clean behind it is not gas work. A bayonet fitting is the push and twist connector that joins a free-standing cooker to its flexible hose. HSE's position is that cookers connected by a flexible connector of this type are not considered readily movable, but can be moved temporarily, for example to clean the space they normally occupy, and that this activity is not regarded as work within the meaning of the Regulations.
Everything else around that connection is work on a gas fitting. Installing or reinstalling the cooker, changing the flexible hose or altering the connection belongs to a Gas Safe registered engineer. The regulations also treat connections differently by appliance type: regulation 26(2) requires a flued domestic gas appliance to be connected by a rigid pipe. Whether a particular appliance may be connected flexibly is part of what the engineer determines in the property.
How old can a flexible gas cooker hose be before it has to be replaced?
No maximum age in years for a flexible gas cooker hose is set in the regulations or in HSE guidance for landlords. Regulation 36(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended, requires you to keep the relevant gas fittings in a safe condition in England. Regulation 26(1) bars an appliance from being installed where it cannot be used without danger. Condition decides whether the hose stays, not a date in the diary.
HSE describes maintenance as a programme of regular inspection with repair where it is needed. That inspection covers the physical condition and safe functioning of the appliance, the installation pipework, ventilation and the flue, looking specifically for deterioration with age. HSE also says servicing follows the manufacturer's instructions, and annually where there are none, unless the Gas Safe registered engineer advises otherwise. Any marking on the hose is read by that engineer as part of the assessment.
If you have seen a fixed replacement interval for cooker hoses quoted in years, it does not come from the regulations or from HSE guidance for landlords. The answer for your property is the engineer's assessment of the hose at the annual gas safety check.
Cooker you supply or the tenant's own cooker: what your gas safety duty covers
Who supplied the cooker changes what your gas safety duty covers in England. It never takes the installation pipework and the connection point out of your hands.
| What is in question | Cooker you supply | Tenant's own cooker |
|---|---|---|
| The appliance itself | Yours to keep in a safe condition and to have checked at intervals of no more than 12 months. | The tenant's appliance, so checking and servicing it is for the tenant to arrange. |
| Installation pipework and the bayonet point | Yours, as part of the relevant gas fittings in the property. | Still yours, because pipework and the connection point belong to the installation. |
| Stability device | Assessed against the cooker's instructions when the engineer checks the appliance. | Assessed only when the tenant has their own appliance checked. |
| The safety record | The cooker is one of the appliances the record covers. | The record covers your pipework; the tenant's appliance sits outside your duty. |
HSE suggests as good practice that you remind the tenant to have their own appliance checked each year, and that you offer to include it in your own arrangements. Which items end up listed is covered in our guide to which appliances, pipework and flues appear on a gas safety record.
When the gas safety check on a let with a gas cooker is due, and what the tenant gets
A let with a gas cooker runs on a 12-month cycle. Regulation 36(3)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended, requires a safety check within 12 months of installation and then at intervals of no more than 12 months. Under regulation 36(3)(c) the record is kept for two years. Regulation 36(6) requires a copy for existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and a copy for a new tenant before occupation begins.
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 allow the check to be carried out up to two months before the due date while the original due date stays in place. That gives you room to arrange access without pulling the anniversary forward each year. The wider duties are set out in our guide to landlord gas safety in England. Where a record has already run past its date, read what applies in our guide to landlord gas safety certificate renewal and lapsed records.
A gas cooker left behind by a previous tenant: what applies before it is used again
A second-hand gas cooker may be installed only after its safe condition has been verified, under regulation 26(9) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as amended. A cooker left behind at the end of a tenancy counts as second-hand for this purpose, as does one bought used for the property. Until a Gas Safe registered engineer has verified it, the cooker should not be put back into use for a new tenant.
Where the engineer judges the cooker unsafe, it cannot be left in use in that state, and your duty under regulation 36(2) to keep the fittings in a safe condition means remedial work follows. What the safety classifications on the paperwork mean is explained in our guide to Immediately Dangerous and At Risk findings. If you want the cooker, its hose and the bayonet point looked at alongside the boiler, you can arrange a landlord gas safety certificate (CP12) for the property.
Sources
- HSE - Domestic gas: frequently asked questions
- HSE - Maintenance: gas appliances and flues
- HSE - Gas safety checks: what needs them?
- GSIUR 1998, regulation 26 - Gas appliances: safety precautions
- GSIUR 1998, regulation 33 - Testing of appliances
- GSIUR 1998, regulation 36 - Duties of landlords
- The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018