A gas fire in a rented property in England has to be included in the annual gas safety check, together with the flue or chimney that serves it. Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended places that duty on you as landlord, at intervals of no more than 12 months, with the check carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. A decorative fuel-effect fire counts as well, even if your tenant never lights it. Bedrooms carry their own rule, and since October 2022 a room with a gas fire also needs a carbon monoxide alarm.
Does a gas fire in a rented property need its own gas safety check?
A gas fire in a let needs the same annual safety check as the boiler. In England, regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended covers every relevant gas appliance you provide for your tenant's use, and every flue serving one. HSE guidance confirms that fixed and portable gas appliances in the property are both included.
A record that names only the boiler leaves the fire unaccounted for. The same regulation requires each appliance to be checked within 12 months of installation, then at intervals of no more than 12 months. Which appliances and flues belong on the document is set out in which appliances, pipework and flues appear on a gas safety record.
Only a Gas Safe registered engineer may carry out the check. A registered engineer carries an ID card, and the back of it lists the appliance types they are qualified to work on. HSE advises checking that card before work starts. Gas fires are not automatically covered by every registration.
Can a gas fire stay in the bedroom of a rented property?
A gas fire may only stay in a room used for sleeping if it meets regulation 30 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended, which applies in England. A gas fire, gas space heater or gas water heater above 14 kW gross heat input may only be installed in such a room if it is room-sealed. Gross heat input is the rate at which the appliance burns fuel. At 14 kW or less, the appliance must either be room-sealed or have a safety control that shuts it down before a dangerous quantity of combustion products builds up in the room.
Room-sealed means the combustion system is sealed off from the room. The air for burning comes from outside, or from a ventilated unoccupied space, and the products of combustion go straight out into the open air.
The rule reaches further than the bed itself. Cupboards and recesses inside the room are counted as part of it. So are adjoining cupboards, recesses or rooms that have a ventilation opening into the sleeping area. Regulation 36 makes it your duty to ensure no appliance sits in a room used as sleeping accommodation where that installation would breach regulation 30.
What does an engineer check on a gas fire's flue and chimney?
The flue and chimney serving a gas fire are checked by the engineer, never by you or your tenant. A flue is the route that carries the products of combustion out of the building. After any work on a gas appliance, a registered engineer is required to check that flue, including a visual inspection: that it runs continuously, that joints are correctly assembled and sealed, and that it is adequately supported along its length. Where that inspection is not possible, HSE is clear that the engineer cannot confirm the appliance is safe.
A blocked chimney or flue is one of the causes of carbon monoxide named in HSE guidance. Rooms with gas appliances need enough ventilation. Air inlets must not be blocked up against draughts, and a flue terminal outside must never be covered over.
Where a flue runs through a void or other concealed space, HSE sets out what the engineer looks for: signs of leakage along the route, a combustion analysis with a satisfactory result, and suitable audible carbon monoxide alarms in place.
Nothing on a gas fire is a householder job. Lifting the coals or fuel bed, taking off the fire front, clearing a flue or chimney, opening the casing, relighting a pilot that keeps going out — all of that is work for a Gas Safe registered engineer. Ask your tenant to stop using the fire and report it, rather than try anything at the appliance.
Does a room with a gas fire in a let need a carbon monoxide alarm?
A room with a gas fire in a rented home in England needs a carbon monoxide alarm. The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 came into force on 1 October 2022. They require an alarm in every room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance, with gas cookers excepted. A gas fire is a fixed combustion appliance, so the older position covering only solid fuel no longer applies.
At least one smoke alarm is required on each storey with living accommodation. You must test the alarms on the day a new tenancy begins. If your tenant reports a faulty alarm and the fault is confirmed, you must repair or replace it as soon as reasonably practicable. Local authorities enforce the rules through a remedial notice.
Placement, testing and the fault procedure are set out in detail in carbon monoxide alarm rules for rented homes in England.
Who is responsible if the gas fire is the tenant's own, or nobody uses it?
A gas fire you provide stays your responsibility even if nobody lights it. Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended, in England, ties the duty to appliances and flues provided for the tenant's use. How often they are used does not change that.
Where your tenant brings in their own gas fire, HSE states that you remain responsible for parts of the associated installation and the pipework, but not for the appliance itself. Flues and chimneys that serve only a tenant's own appliance fall outside your maintenance duty. HSE still recommends including every flue connected to a gas appliance, chimneys among them, in the safety check.
An old fireplace in a let can also hide a redundant solid fuel back boiler, which HSE treats as a risk in its own right. Your duties cannot be passed to the tenant through the tenancy agreement. Where a managing agent is involved, the management contract must say clearly who arranges maintenance and checks.
What must the gas safety record say about the fire, and when does your tenant get it?
Your gas safety record must describe the fire and state where it is in the property. Regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended, in England, sets the contents of the record.
- The date of the check and the address of the property
- A description and the location of each appliance and flue checked — so the lounge fire appears alongside the boiler
- Any safety defect found, and the action taken to deal with it
- The name and signature of the engineer who carried out the check
Existing tenants receive a copy within 28 days of the check. New tenants receive a copy before they move in. For lets of 28 days or less, a copy may be displayed prominently in the property instead. Records should be kept for at least two years.
The check may be carried out 10 to 12 months after the last one without losing the original anniversary date, according to HSE. An engineer issues the record when the check is complete. It is not held back because defects were found or until repairs have been made.
The gas fire was disconnected as unsafe — what happens next?
A gas fire that has been reported unsafe, isolated or disconnected must not be reconnected until the defect has been put right. HSE states that in absolute terms, with no exceptions. Any repair is work for a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Where a heating appliance has been disconnected, you must provide your tenant with alternative heating while the repair is arranged. Your local authority can advise if you are unsure what is adequate. The categories an engineer uses when an appliance fails are explained in Immediately Dangerous and At Risk.
When the annual date for your let comes round, you can arrange a landlord gas safety certificate (CP12) and confirm with the engineer which appliance types their registration covers.
Sources
- The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 36 (duties of landlords)
- The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 30 (room-sealed appliances and sleeping accommodation)
- HSE – Maintenance: gas appliances and flues
- HSE – Gas safety check records and what to keep
- HSE – Gas boilers: flues in voids
- GOV.UK – Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022: guidance for landlords and tenants
- HSE – Gas safety: landlords and letting agents