Newsletter - McCartan Lettings & Property management

Are You Gas Safe Aware?

Last week, McCartan Lettings were proud to support Gas Safety Week 2017. Gas appliances that are not fitted or serviced correctly can cause leaks, fires, explosions, and carbon monoxide poisoning. In order to raise awareness of the dangers and what you can do to mitigate them, we spent the week sharing information and tips both on our blog and on social media.

Landlords

As a landlord, you are legally required to have a gas safety check carried out every 12 months at each of your rental properties. The check must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the certificate must be given to your tenants within 28 days of the check, or to any new tenant.

Don’t carry out any gas work at any of your properties if you are not a qualified Gas Safe registered engineer.

We will ensure landlords on our managed service remain compliant (and their tenants safe) by ordering gas safety checks to be carried out annually by contractors we know are registered with Gas Safe.

We also issue all tenants with a copy of the gas safety certificate within 28 days of it being completed, and for their new home during their move in meeting.

Tenants

As a tenant, we would encourage you to check for any warning signs that your gas appliances aren’t working correctly. These signs could include:

Lazy yellow or orange flames instead of crisp blue ones
Black marks on or around the appliance
Too much condensation in the room.

Your landlord is only responsible for checking the appliances they have provided; the responsibility to check the safety of your own gas appliances falls to you.

Don’t carry out any gas work at the property – if you are having issues with a gas appliance, speak to whoever is responsible for managing your maintenance as they will need to arrange for a Gas Safe engineer to do that work for you.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

There are six signs of carbon monoxide poisoning:

Headaches
Dizziness
Breathlessness
Nausea
Collapse
Loss of consciousness.

Although it is not a legal requirement for rental properties in Wales to be fitted with carbon monoxide alarms, we would encourage all landlords to purchase them.

Is My Engineer Gas Safe?

It’s really easy to check whether an engineer you have instructed in registered with Gas Safe. You can do so at www.gassaferegister.co.uk, or by calling 0800 408 5500. Ask to see their ID card before allowing them to do any work.

If you would like us to recommend a verified Gas Safe engineer, we would be more than happy to do so.

In Emergencies

If you smell gas, call Transco immediately on 0800 111 999. In an emergency, dial 999 for the emergency services.

At McCartan Lettings we are committed to ensuring the safety of all of our tenants and legal compliance for all of our landlords.

If you would like more information about how to be Gas Safe, please give us a call on 01792 430100 or pop into our office or Gower Road in Killay!

Source: Gas Safe Register / About Gas Safety Week 2017