Safety checks: gas, electrical, EPC and alarms
When each check is due, who arranges it, when the tenant must have a copy, and how the reminders run.
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Gas, electrical and energy certificates each have their own cycle. This guide shows the cycle, who acts, and what the tenant should receive.
Who this is for: letting agencies, landlords and tenants.
Compliance: reminders run from 60 days before each expiry.
Certificates on one property, with each tenant's copy.
What you are deciding
When to book each check, and whether the tenant has had their copy in time.
Your options
- Book the gas check up to two months early. The next due date stays a year from the old one, so nothing is lost by booking early.
- The check finds a problem. Record the remedial work and its date. For electrical work the law gives 28 days, or less if the report says so.
- There is no gas at the property. Mark it as having no gas supply, and Abide.Rent stops asking for a gas safety record.
The cycle for each certificate
| Certificate | How often | Copy to the tenant | Who arranges it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas safety record | Every 12 months; a check up to 2 months early keeps the due date | Existing tenants within 28 days of the check; new tenants before they move in | Landlord side, or the agency where it accepted gas in writing |
| Electrical installation condition report (EICR) | At least every 5 years, or sooner if the report says | Existing tenants within 28 days; new tenants before they move in; a prospective tenant within 28 days of asking; the council within 7 days of asking | Landlord side |
| Energy performance certificate (EPC) | Valid for 10 years; needed before the property is next let, not renewed during a tenancy | Before the tenant moves in | Landlord side |
| Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms | Checked on the first day of each tenancy; repaired or replaced when reported faulty | — | Landlord side |
What each party does
Letting agency or landlord
- When the first reminder arrives, book the engineer. Abide.Rent gives the tenant at least 24 hours' notice of the visit in writing.
- Upload the new record. Abide.Rent reads its dates; check them and approve.
- Send it to the tenants. Abide.Rent records when each one was sent and when each tenant confirmed it.
- Record any remedial work and its date.
Tenant
- You are told when an engineer will visit. Let them in, or ask to rearrange.
- You receive each new record in your portal under Safety and can confirm you have it.
- Report a faulty alarm as a repair.
When Abide.Rent reminds whom
- Renewal: the party who arranges it, 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before, on the day, then 1, 7, 14 and 30 days late the expiry date. The other side is told.
- A copy not yet given to the tenant: 60, 30, 14, 7, 3 and 1 days before, on the day, then 1, 7, 14 and 30 days late, then monthly until six months late the 28th day.
- A required certificate that is not on record: the same days, counted to the tenancy start.
A worked example
A gas safety record expires on Monday 1 March 2027. The agency, which accepted gas in writing, is reminded from Thursday 31 December 2026. The engineer visits on Monday 15 February 2027, after the tenant was given notice on Friday 12 February. Because the check is within two months of the due date, the next one is due on Wednesday 1 March 2028, not 15 February. The record is uploaded the same day, sent to the tenant, and she confirms it on Tuesday 16 February 2027. The seven-day owner escalation never starts.
What Abide.Rent does for you
- Reads the dates on an uploaded certificate and asks you to check them before they count.
- Keeps each tenant's copy and confirmation separately, so a new tenant is never treated as having had an old copy.
- Tells the tenant in writing before a contractor visit.
If something goes wrong
- The next due date did not move after an early check
What to do: That is the rule for gas: a check up to two months early keeps the old due date, so the next one is a year after that date. - The tenant does not show as having the record
What to do: Send it from the property's compliance tab. Each tenant's copy is recorded separately.
Common mistakes
- Renewing an EPC mid-tenancy because it expired. It is needed before the next letting, not during a tenancy.
- Uploading the record but not sending it to the tenant within 28 days.
What to do next
More in How it works
A change of agent, or a sale: what moves and who is toldWhat happens to control, documents, duties and the deposit when a landlord changes agent or sells, and the letters the tenant must get.
A new tenancy, from holding deposit to day 30Every step before and just after a tenant moves in: what the agency or landlord does, what the tenant gets, and the legal date for each.
Every legal date Abide.Rent tracks, and when it reminds youEach date, the law behind it, who is asked to act and the exact days Abide.Rent sends reminders.