• Peterborough Homes
• Peterborough Estate Agents

Gas Safety

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

• Each appliance must be checked for safety at least once every 12 months by a CORGI* registered contractor and a record kept of the dates of inspection, the defects identified and any repairs or replacement carried out.
  *CORGI is the Council of Registered Gas Installers
• Landlords must give safety records to each tenant at the property.
• The landlord has a legal duty to make sure that the property is safe. Any appliance which burns a fossil fuel such as gas, coal or oil can produce carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a gas which is highly toxic to people and animals. About 30 people die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty gas appliances.
• It is important that appliances burning fossil fuels, such as gas fires or gas water heaters, are properly fitted, serviced and safety-checked regularly and efficiently by approved competent persons.
  
  It is so important because carbon monoxide can be very difficult to recognise or detect. It has no colour, no smell, no taste and the symptoms can often be confused with those of other illnesses such as a cold or flu.
  
  Look out for these danger signs:
  
  • Stains, soot or discolouring around a gas fire or at the top of a water heater. This may mean that the flue or chimney is blocked. Carbon monoxide can build up in the room.
  • A yellow or orange flame on a gas fire or water heater.
  • A strange smell when the gas appliance is on.

Safety Precautions

1. Only buy appliances that have been tested for safety. Take care if buying a second-hand appliance make sure that the dealer gives you a written guarantee and always ask for a copy of the User Instructions.
2. Never be tempted to fit gas appliances yourself or to use a contractor who is not a registered CORGI* installer. One mistake could cost a life.  Always use British Gas or an installer registered with CORGI*. This is not only common sense it is also the law.
3. Your gas appliances must be checked and maintained at least once every 12 months, either by British Gas or a CORGI* registered installer.

• The cooker must be free from gas leaks which would jeopardise safety
• Oven doors must adequately seal
• Any burner ignition devices must work
• When a burner is lit, all of the flame ports must ignite. The flame must be stable and not emit excess carbon monoxide
• On/Off taps, and any device intended to automatically shut off the gas supply when any lid over the burners is closed, must work efficiently
• The surface temperature of the cooker, apart from a working surface, must not rise to a level which could cause personal injury or the possibility of fire
• All accessible parts must be free from sharp edges and any lids, doors, splashbacks and so on if made of glass must be of a type which if broken would not lead to injury (for example, suitably toughened glass must be used)
• The appliance itself and any pan supports must be stable. Anti-topple brackets should be properly and securely fitted.
• Every cooker must have marked on it all information necessary for its safe installation, adjustment, maintenance and operation. If marking on the appliance itself it not practicable, some of the information may be given in an accompanying document.