Conveyancing Solicitors Suffolk – Health and safety changes to gas safety guidance

‘On 1 January 2013 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) introduced new gas safety guidance for gas flues.  It is now the responsibility of the property owner, including landlords, to make sure a gas safety engineer can inspect the entire boiler flue.  If the flue is hidden from inspection by, for instance, being boxed in, an inspection hatch will need to be fitted so that the engineer has full access for his inspection.  If the flue cannot be fully inspected the engineer will declare the flue to be ‘at risk’ and can turn off the boiler system.  In the case of a rented property, the tenant could withhold payment of rent until the problem is resolved by the landlord.’

Linda Mulrooney is a property executive in the residential property team at Barker Gotelee, solicitors in Suffolk.

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