Landlord Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) Costs [And Your Responsibilities]

Welcome to our 5-minute guide to landlord gas safety certificate costs, formerly known as a CP12. This guide covers everything you need to know about a landlord gas safety check, including costs, what should be included, how often you need one, and what to do when a tenant refuses access.

How much does a landlord gas safety certificate cost?

Expect to pay around £60 for a landlord gas safety certificate. The gas safety check cost should include one appliance (i.e. a gas boiler). The gas certificate cost rises with each additional gas appliance the engineer has to check on the property.

Are there discounts available for multiple properties?

If you own a property portfolio, or run a letting agent, you may be able to negotiate a better rate for the gas safety certificate. Generally, you’ll pay 10-20% of the single property gas safety check cost for 10+ properties annually.

How much does each additional appliance check cost?

Expect to add around 30% for each additional appliance that your landlord gas safety check must include. So, that would be approximately £60 for a boiler, £78 for a boiler and hob, and roughly £96 for a boiler, hob, and gas fire.

Do national companies cost more than local installers?

Generally, yes — your gas safety check cost will be higher if you employ a national company versus a local one.

Keep in mind, the £60 we mentioned above is just a ball park figure. A local installer is likely to charge in the region of £40-65 to check a single appliance.

However, if you’re using national boiler installation companies for a landlord gas safety certificate, the price may quickly spiral. A standard check for a single gas boiler could be as much as £80, with a 3-appliance check and certificate costing in the £120-130 range.

Which appliances need to be checked?

If you’re a landlord or letting agent, the engineer you hire must check ALL gas appliances and include them in the gas safety certificate. This check isn’t a recommendation — it’s a statutory requirement.

Gas Safety Checks

Here’s what an engineer will try to ascertain during your gas safety check:

Correct adjustment and combustion of gas
Suitable installation area
Secure installation (for wall-hung units) and pipework
Airflow is free of blockages and sufficient for the room in which the appliance is installed
Flue and chimney checks

Your gas safety check won’t include any servicing or repairs. If there’s a problem with any appliance, or any pipework feeding that appliance, the engineer will rectify it at an additional cost to the CP12.

Do you need to use a boiler manufacturer’s servicing team?

Although the likes of Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Baxi, and Ideal have their own boiler servicing teams offering a landlord gas certificate, there’s no legal requirement to use them.

All you need to ensure is that the boiler engineer you hire is qualified to work on gas appliances and registered with Gas Safe. If you’ve had a quote from a company for any gas work, you can check out their credentials on the Gas Safe Register by searching their Gas Safe number or company name.

How often do you LEGALLY need to get a gas safety certificate?

You’ll need to perform a gas safety check on any tenanted property every 12 months. After 12 months, any previous gas safety check becomes invalid.

And this is where many landlords face a big problem:

What happens if a tenant won’t allow access for a gas safety check?

Always plan for a gas safety check well in advance of it’s due date. The law requires you to have a certificate produced every year, but this doesn’t give you automatic access to your property if your tenant refuses.

If you suspect a problem tenant, the first thing to do is speak to a solicitor. According to the Gas Safe register, you can’t force entry, but you’ll need to prove that you have multiple documented attempts to gain access to the property (3 times as a minimum), 10-12 months before the gas safety certificate is due.

If my tenant installs gas appliances, am I responsible?

You are not responsible for performing a gas safety check on gas appliances, flues, or chimneys that your tenant fits. The Gas Safe Register is quite clear about this:

“Landlords are not responsible for safety checks on gas appliances owned by the tenant or any flues that solely connects to tenants own gas appliances.”

Do you need a gas safety certificate when selling/buying a flat or house?

By law, homeowners are DON’T have to provide a gas safety certificate to the new owner. So as a buyer, you’ll not know whether the property is gas safe, until an engineer checks it.

However, most sellers are happy to organise a Gas Safety certificate, assuming that the buyer foots the bill. Given that a gas certificate cost is only £60, but the check could highlight problems with a heating system costing up to £4,000 to replace, it’s worth the money.

What’s Next?

Thanks for reading our 5-minute guide to CP12s and landlord gas safety certificates.

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