Technical Bulletin 055 Duties of Landlords
The following is a brief summary of Industry Standard Update 092; Gas Safe registered engineers should always keep themselves updated with the complete publication. Information has been curated from Registered Gas Engineer Issue #123 for the convenience of G&E’s visitors.
Gas Safe released this update during May 2019, voiding the previous 15 December 2015 version, with the newest version effective immediately. This publication makes changes to procedures regarding the recording of the operating safety of an appliance (not owned by the landlord) following a visual risk assessment.
Guidance has been provided in Question & Answer 7; Landlords/clients require engineers to record tenants’ own appliances on the landlord gas safety record (LGSR). On the LGSR, engineers are presented with a YES/NO tick-box, to be filled once a Visual Safety Check has been completed. In the event of a failed Visual Safety Check, then IGEM/G/11 will be implemented. Gas engineers frequently take caution when confirming a successful Visual Safety Check. It may be presumed that the engineer undertook physical tests to arrive at this conclusion, resulting in the landlord wrongly discharging their duty of care.
As a resolution, the publication suggests that engineers, when recording tenants’ appliances, should clearly mark “Visual Check Only” across the boxes used to record the outcomes of the checks [26(9)]. Gas Safe recommend that engineers state the following (on the LGSR): “For appliances not owned by the landlord, recorded ‘Appliance Safe’ response is based on a visual check for obvious defects only”.
Industry Standard Update 092 also comments on difficulty regarding electronic recording devices. Some of these devices feature pre-set programs, which allow no variations, preventing the recording or wording of ‘Visual Check Only’. Should these circumstances arise, it has been recommended that the gas engineer present should advise the client in writing: “All visual checks on appliances not owned by the landlord recording a YES to ‘Appliance Safe’ are based on a visual check for obvious defects only, with no physical tests undertaken”.